A Split Second
by Wandering Seas
Summary: What if Jack had gotten there a split second earlier? What if his timing had been perfect enough to get the Doctor and Rose both safely out of harm's way? If the Doctor hadn't been shot, there would be no Metacrisis. If there hadn't been a Metacrisis, then Donna wouldn't have had her memory wiped. If there hadn't been a Metacrisis, then Rose wouldn't have left. AU Journey's End
1. Journey's End part 1

**A/N I don't' own Doctor Who or BBC. I'm not even British.**

**Book of the Update: Seeing in the Dark by Timothy Ferris**

Chapter 1: Journey's End

"…why don't you ask her yourself?"

It took a moment for realization to dawn on his face, followed quickly by disbelief. The Doctor turned, ever so slowly, and froze when he saw her. Rose Tyler. She was really there, in the right universe, standing there grinning at him. He stood in shock for a full ten or fifteen seconds before breaking into a run, a look of sheer joy written plainly across his face.

When they finally reached each other, he didn't even hesitate before pulling her into his arms and swinging them around, holding her as close as he could. He pressed his face into her hair and listened to her say his name over and over into his ear.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" broke into their long awaited reunion, followed by a loud "NO!" and a body slamming into the Doctor, sending both him and Rose crashing to the ground.

Blue light filled his vision as someone crumpled to the ground beside them, something clattering on the concrete by the Doctor's right hand. A sonic blaster. He grabbed the blaster and stood up in one fluid motion, aiming it for the Dalek and watching the shot hit its target.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Rose's voice called him back to the matter at hand. He looked down and saw Rose curled over the limp body of Captain Jack Harkness. He shoved the blaster in his pocket and gently pulled her away from him.

"Rose….it's alright," he tried, "he'll be fine. Rose, just….step back. Stay away from him."

But she would have none of it. She clung to Jack's neck and refused to be pulled away. "We should take him inside the TARDIS, yeah? Can't just…leave him here," she finally said, sniffing and wiping her nose on her sleeve.

He couldn't bear to see her cry so, as wrong as Jack was, he scooped him up and carried him inside the TARDIS past a bewildered Donna, Rose following on his heels.

He put Jack down, a bit less than gently, on the jump seat and walked away from Jack, toward the controls.

Rose opened her mouth to say something, but she screamed and jumped back instead.

"Rosie! Long time no see," Jack said, giving her a dazzling smile.

She stood frozen, hand clasped over her mouth. "But you….you were dead," she said in a faint voice. She turned to look at Donna and the Doctor. "He was dead, yeah? You saw it too!" her voice had gotten stronger now. "You were dead, Jack," she told him and he shrugged.

"It happens."

Rose turned back to the Doctor and he gave her his 'I'll tell you later' look. She nodded, still a bit uncertain about the whole thing.

Donna looked back and forth between the three of them. "Will someone please tell me what the _bloody_ _hell_ is goin on?"

Jack smiled and held out his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service." He winked.

"Donna Noble," she said, holding out a hand, all thoughts of Mars and aliens out of her head.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Jaaack."

"What? I'm just saying hello," he said innocently, backing off with his hands in the air.

"He can say hello all he wants, _spaceman_!" Donna barked and Rose covered her mouth to keep from laughing; she liked this universe's Donna.

"RIGHT!" the Doctor said loudly, clapping his hands together. "Let's get out of here, shall we?" He walked over to the controls and was halfway through setting the coordinates when suddenly the lights went off in the ship and all of the screens went black.

"They've got us….power's gone! Some sort of chronum loop!" the Doctor was frantically running around the console, flipping switches and pressing buttons, but to no avail.

The TARDIS lurched to the side, sending her passengers crashing to the floor.

After a few unsteady tries, the ship righted herself as she was flung through time and space against her will.

"There's a massive Dalek ship at the center of the planet. They're calling it the Crucible," Jack informed them. "Guess that's our destination."

"You said these planets were like an engine, but what for?" Donna asked quietly.

The Doctor's head shot up. "Rose," he said, pointing at her, "you've been in the parallel world; that world's running ahead of this universe. You've seen the future what was it?"

She ran her teeth over her bottom lip. "'s the darkness."

Donna seemed to remember just then. "The stars were goin out," she added in.

"One by one. You'd look up in the sky and they were just dying," Rose said with a sad, far-off look in her eyes. "Basically, we've been building this…travel machine. This, uh…..dimension cannon so I could…" she stopped and met the Doctor's eyes. "Well, so I could…."

"What?"

"So I could come back," she said finally and he grinned at her, laughing. "Shut up. Anyway, so it started to work, and the dimension started to collapse." His smile was gone now. "And not just in our world, not just in yours, the whole of reality. Even the Void was dead. Something is…destroying everything."

"In that parallel world," Donna started and Rose turned to face her, "You said something bout me?"

"The dimension cannon could measure timelines, and it's….it's weird, Donna, but they all seemed to converge on you."

"But why me?" she asked, sounding a bit frantic, "What have I ever done? I mean, I'm a temp from Cheswick!"

Something on the console beeped and the Doctor was over there in a heartbeat, examining the screen. "Dalek crucible. All aboard," he said in a flat voice.

The TARDIS began to shake again and then stopped abruptly as she landed. "DOC-TOR YOU WILL STEP FORTH OR DIE" boomed a metallic voice outside the ship.

"We'll have to go out," the Doctor said, staring at the door, "cause if we don't, they'll get in."

Rose seemed confused. "You told me nothing could get through those doors."

"You've got extrapolator shielding," Jack said, backing her up.

The Doctor looked at them. "Last time we fought the Daleks they were scavengers. And outnumbered. And mad. This is a fully fledged Dalek empire at the height of its power; experts at fighting TARDISes. They can do anything. Right now," he took a breath, "that wooden door…is just wood."

"What about your dimension jumper?" Jack asked Rose.

"It needs another twenty minutes and anyhow, I'm not leaving."

"What about your teleport?" The Doctor asked Jack.

"Went down in the power loss."

"Well then," the Doctor said, "All of us together. Yeah? Donna?" they all turned to look at her. She was standing there, staring off into space with tears forming in her eyes. The Doctor walked back and grabbed her shoulders. "Donna," he whispered sharply and she jumped, gasping, like she had been shaken awake.

"Yeah." She said, but it sounded like she had no idea what they had been talking about.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing else we can do."

"Yeah. I know."

"DOC-TOR COME FORTH AND FACE YOUR DA-LEK MAS-TERS"

"Daleks," Rose said with a fake, breathy little laugh.

"Oh God," Jack added, a tight smile on his lips.

"It's been good though, hasn't it? All of us, everything we did?" he looked at Donna, "You were brilliant. And you were brilliant," he added, looking at Jack. "And you were brilliant," he told Rose, blinking his eyes hard to stop the water from welling up in them. "Blimey."

He turned toward the door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

"DA-LEKS REIGN SUP-REME ALL HAIL THE DA-LEKS" echoed in the halls of the Crucible, a thousand robot voices saying the same words.

The Doctor looked up at the masses of Daleks flying above their heads. "Oh…kay," he breathed out, staring.

"LOOK DOC-TOR, BE-HOLD THE MIGHT OF THE TRUE DA-LEK RACE" boomed the robotic voice of the red Dalek, who was obviously the leader.

"DONNA?" The Doctor called over his shoulder. "You're no safer in there," he muttered.

"I'll get her," Rose mumbled and she walked over to the TARDIS and leaned in. "Donna?"

The TARDIS doors slammed shut, hitting Rose on the bum and forcing her inside. The Doctor ran over, banging on the doors. "Doctor!" Rose cried out, followed quickly by an accusatory screech from Donna: "Doctor? What've you done?"

"Wasn't me I didn't do anything!"

"Oi! I'm not stayin behind!"

"What did you do?" the Doctor screeched at the red Dalek.

"THIS IS NOT OF DA-LEK OR-I-GIN"

"Stop it! Now open the door and let them out!"

"THIS IS TIME LORD TRE-CHE-RY," the red Dalek announced, flailing its lasers around.

"Me?" The Doctor cried, "The door just closed on its own!"

"NEVER-THE-LESS THE TAR-DIS IS A WEA-PON AND IT WILL BE DES-TROYED"

A flick of his arm and a trapdoor below the TARDIS swung open, letting the ship fall down to whatever was underneath the floor.

"WHAT ARE YA DOING?" The Doctor screeched, looking down the dark hole, "BRING IT BACK!" he shouted at the red Dalek. "What 'ave you done? Where's it going?"

"THE CRUC-IBLE HAS A HEART OF ZED-NEUT-REGO EN-ER-GY. THE TAR-DIS WILL BE DEP-OSI-TED IN-TO THE CORE"

"You can't…."the Doctor said faintly, "You….you've taken the defenses down!" he found his voice again, "THEY'LL BE TORN APART!"

**AN: Was this too short? Too long? Too cliché? I think the whole "not being hit by the Dalek" thin is new – I haven't encountered it before – and if it's not, then I'm terribly sorry. I tried, and I hope that this will be different and better as it goes on.**


	2. Journey's End part 2

**A/N I don't own BBC or Doctor Who**

**Book of the Update: Deeper by Gordon and Williams**

Chapter 2

"DOCTOOORR!" Donna shouted, clinging onto the railing to try and keep her balance as the ship was flung in every direction.

Rose, not having had a chance to grab onto something, was sliding all about the console room and finally managed to catch hold of the jump seat and hoist herself to a standing position. Just then, the lights blew out, glass went everywhere, the temperature increased by at least 20 degrees, and fires started on the console and on the walls.

They both screamed and Donna fell to her knees, crawling over to Rose, who had taken on a strange expression. She stood up and shakily made her way over to the console and grabbed on to steady herself, looking through a ragged burnt hole in the metal. Through the hole, she could see a little golden spark and it triggered something in her memory…..golden light in the TARDIS…..the TARDIS….

DOCTOR WHO

"But Donna and Rose are still in there!" Jack shouted at the red Dalek, "Let her go!"

"THE FE-MALE AND THE TAR-DIS WILL PER-ISH TO-GE-THER. OBS-ERVE," the Dalek gestured to a screen behind them and the Doctor and Jack turned. "THE LAST CHILD OF GALL-I-FREY IS POW-ER-LESS."

"Please," The Doctor begged, "I'll do anything. Just get them out of there! Put me in their place. You can do anything to me! I don't care just GET THEM OUT OF THERE!"

"YOU ARE CONN-EC-TED TO THE TAR-DIS NOW FEEL IT DIE," the red Dalek said with a sick sort of robotic joy.

The Doctor stood, staring at the screen in agony, teeth clenched, fire in his eyes, as he watched the ship burn.

"TAR-DIS DES-TRUC-TION IN TEN SEC-ONDS. NINE. EIGHT. SEVEN. SIX. FIVE. FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE" The TARDIS faded into nothing, lost in the fires below. "THE TAR-DIS HAS BEEN DES-TROYED. NOW TELL ME DOC-TOR, WHAT DO YOU FEEL?"

Jack looked at the Doctor. His face still appeared as though he were in numb agony, but his eyes…..something had happened to the TARDIS, but it hadn't been destroyed.

"AN-GER? SOR-ROW? DES-PAIR?" the red Dalek asked, goading him.

"Yeah," he breathed. It sounded heartbroken, but Jack knew that the Doctor could lie very well. The red Dalek, however, did not know this.

"IF EMOTIONS ARE SO IMP-ORT-ANT THEN SURE-LY WE HAVE EN-HAN-CED YOU?"

"Yeah? Feel this," Jack yelled, pulling out his gun and shooting the Dalek three times.

"EXT-ERM-IN-ATE!"

"Aughahhh!" Jack fell to the floor, motionless and the Doctor looked down at him, grief written on his face.

"YOU ARE THE PLAY-THINGS OF DAV-ROS NOW," The red Dalek said, leading him down a hallway. He turned back to Jack for a moment and nodded ever so slightly when he saw him wink.

DOCTOR WHO

"Alrigh' well that's as good as she's gonna get without the Doctor," Rose said, wiping off the newly repaired lights on the wall. "Now, no one knows we're here, so we've got to keep quiet, yeah?"

"W-what are you?" Donna asked, speaking for the first time since Rose's eyes had changed color, nearly half an hour ago.

"Shhh," she held a finger up to her lips. "I'm Rose, and I'm human. And you're Donna, human, and you're going to help me fly the TARDIS."

"But only the Doctor can do that, right?"

Rose waved her hand. "You're a smart girl, yeah? I bet we can figure it out."

Donna opened her mouth, but Rose cut her off. "Well, come on over, don't be shy. She's not going to bite," she said, gesturing to the console.

Donna walked over, slower than molasses, and stood by Rose. "Why did your eyes go like that?" she finally spit out.

Rose blinked a few times in surprise. "Like what?"

Donna gaped at her. "Like _that_." Rose still looked confused. "They're gold now? 'Stead of brown?"

Rose reached a hand up and touched her eyes. "I…I dunno. They don't feel any different. Feel just like eyes."

Donna looked away. "'s freaky."

DOCTOR WHO

"Activate the holding cell," Davros commanded in a gravelly voice. A beam of light shot up around the Doctor like a cage. "Excellent. Even when powerless, a Time Lord is best contained."

"Still scared of me then?" the Doctor asked, touching his hand to the light and watching as the force field became visible.

"It is time we talked, Doctor, after so many long-"

"No, no, no, no, no, we're not doing the nostalgia tour," the Doctor said, cutting him off. "I wanna know what's happening right here, right now, cause the supreme Dalek said _vault_. As in dungeon…cellar…prison…you're not in charge of the Daleks, are you? They've got you locked away down here in the basement like what, a servant? Slave? Court jester?"

"We have…an arrangement," Davros said shortly.

"No no no no no no I've got the word, you're the Dalek's _pet_!"

"So very full of fire you are. And to think, that girl crossed entire universes to find you. Poor little Rose Ty-"

"DON'T you _dare_ say her name!"

"Her name is mine to say as I please."

The Doctor grit his teeth and changed the topic. "Why am I still here?"

"Because it was foretold," Davros said, bowing his creepy little head forward. "Even the supreme Dalek would not disobey the prophecies of Dalek Kaan," he swept a hand back to where a light had just turned on above the saddest Dalek the Doctor had ever seen. It was barely even a flap of rotten skin with a brain, hanging off of pieces of charred metal that was once the traditional protective casing of a Dalek.

"So cold and dark," Kaan said in a high-pitched, giggly voice, "Fire is coming. The endless flames."

"Dalek Kaan," the Doctor said, repulsed. "So you flew into the Time War unprotected and this is what happened, well, is this what the Cult of Skaro has come to?"

"Kaan did more than that," Davros objected, "He saw time. Its infinite majesty and complexity raging through his mind. And he saw you."

"Yes," Kaan squeaked, "I have foreseen, in the wild and the wind, the Doctor will be here as witness; at the end of everything, the Doctor and his precious children of time…and one of them will die," he laughed, flailing his tentacles around.

"Was it you, Kaan? Did you kill Rose and Donna? Why did the TARDIS door close? TELL ME!"

"OH that's it!" Davros rolled over to him. "The anger, the rage, the fire of a Time Lord who _murdered_ millions….there he is. Why so shy? Show us your true self, as Dalek Kaan has said you will."

"I have seen, at the time of ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed."

"What does that mean?" the Doctor mumbled at Kaan, who just laughed in response.

"We will discover it together," Davros whispered, showing his grimy teeth off in a terrifying smile. "Our final journey. Because the ending approaches; the testing begins."

"Testing of what?" the Doctor asked apprehensively.

"The reality bomb," replied Davros with a short laugh. "Behold," he gestured to the screen that appeared, showing the testing of the reality bomb.

"That's zedneutregon energy, flattened by the planets into a single string…..No, you can't! Davros! Davros, you can't! You can't! NO!"

DOCTOR WHO

"Okay, let's see what we've got here," Rose said, looking at the blue screen that showed energy levels near the TARDIS.

"But….those are planets," Donna pointed out.

"Twenty-seven planets," Rose said softly. "That means something…..something the Doctor said, or maybe Torchwood mentioned something about twenty-seven planets…twenty-seven planets…"

"Single string zedneutregon ions compressed into a single line," Donna read what the TARDIS had written on the screen. "What does that mean?"

Rose's eyes widened. "No way…"

The planets on the screen faded from extremely high energy levels back to normal.

"It's finished," Rose said, her voice catching.

"What was it?" Donna asked softly, but Rose just kept staring at the screen. "Rose. Rose, what did it do?"

"Electrical energy," she mumbled. "Every atom in existence is stuck together by this thing, this electrical field. The reality bomb – the thing the Daleks just used – cancels it out and the structure of everything falls apart. That….that must've been just a test or something, because if that was the real thing, every form of matter would dissolve."

"The stars goin out…" Donna whispered and Rose nodded numbly.

"The twenty-seven planets will become one big transmitter and blast that wavelength everywhere, across the universe…..across everything. Every planet and every star will become dust, and then that dust will just sort of fade into nothing," she took a shaky breath, tears spilling down her cheeks, "and it'll keep going. It'll break into other dimensions, into every single parallel world…."

"So everything will just become….nothing?" Donna asked, trying to wrap her mind around that, but she couldn't. "We've got to stop them."

Rose wiped off her face with the backs of her hands. "Right. So….let's see what the TARDIS can find for us, yeah?" she said, patting the console as the TARDIS gave a gentle hum and a light went on in one of the rooms in the hallway. Rose grinned and ran into the room, coming out in just a moment holding what looked like a big hunk of metal.

"So what is this thing?" Donna asked.

"Uhh…not sure, to be perfectly honest. But the TARDIS is sending me this thought…'s like the Daleks are all connected to one person and if we get the reality bomb to focus on that person, all the Daleks will be destroyed, yeah?"

"Biggest backfire in history," Donna said, grinning.

Rose's smile faded. "But I don't think I can do that. I don't think I can destroy an entire race…even if it is the Daleks. It's just…_wrong_." She looked at Donna, the conflicted emotions showing on her face, and Donna didn't know what to say or what to do because she was right…..but it seemed as if they had no choice.

DOCTOR WHO

"This is Martha Jones representing the Unified Intellegence Task Force on behalf of the human race. This message is for the Dalek crucible, can you hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?"

The Doctor looked up at the sound of Martha's voice. "Put me through!"

"And so it begins as Dalek Kaan foretold," sneered Davros.

"Put me through!" the Doctor growled.

"Doctor!" Martha said from the screen, "I'm sorry. I had to."

"But the Doctor is powerless. My prisoner. State your intent," Davros said, rolling into the light.

"I've got the Auster-Hagaan Key," Martha said, holding it up for the camera to see. "Leave this planet and its people alone or I'll use it."

"Auster-Hagaan what? What's an Auster-Hagaan Key?"

"There's a chain of 25 nuclear warheads, placed in strategic points beneath the earth's crust. If I use the key, they detonate and the earth gets ripped apart."

"What?" the Doctor asked, completely blown back. "Who invented _that_? Well, someone called Auster-Hagaan, I suppose. Martha are you insane?!"

"The Auster-Hagaan Key is to be used if the suffering of the human race is so great, so without hope that this becomes the final option."

"That's never an option!" The Doctor objected, but Martha cut him off sharply:

"Don't argue with me, Doctor, cause it's more than that. Now I reckon that the Daleks need these 27 planets for something. What happens if it becomes 26?"

"Captain Jack Harkness, calling all Dalek boys and girls, are you receiving me?" a new voice called out from the second screen that had just appeared. "Don't send in your goods or I'll set this thing off."

"Jack, what are you doing?" the Doctor asked. "Mickey? Jackie? Sarah Jane?"

"I've got a warp star wired into the main frame. If I break the shell, the entire Crucible goes up."

"You can't!" The Doctor spat, "Where did you even get a warp star?"

"From me," Sarah Jane said, "We had no choice; we saw what happened to the prisoners."

"Impossible…" Davros breathed, "That face…after all these years."

"Davros," Sarah Jane mumbled, her voice shaking, from anger or fear, the Doctor couldn't tell. "It's been quite a while. Sarah Jane Smith, remember?"

"Ohhh, this is meant to be. The circle of time is closing. You were there on Skaro at the very beginning of my creation."

"And I've learned how to fight since then," she spat at him, "you let the Doctor go or this warp star – it gets opened."

"I'll do it," Jack said, twisting the cord around his finger. "Don't imagine I wouldn't."

The Doctor was staring at the ground.

"And the prophecy unfolds," Davros growled.

"The Doctor's soul is revealed," Kaan pitched in from his perch in the background, laughing, "See him? See the heart of him."

"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun, but this is the truth Doctor. You take ordinary people and fashion them into weapons. Behold your children of time transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this."

"They're trying to help," he said, always feeling the need to defend his companions.

"Oh yes," Davros crooned, "Already I have seen them sacrifice today for their beloved Doctor."

"Who was it?" he asked in confusion.

"Harriet Jones," Jack said softly. "She gave her life to get you here."

"How many more? Just think, how many have died in your name?"

The Doctor's face contorted in pain as he thought of everyone who had ever died trying to save him….there were too many. Way too many.

"The Doctor, the man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you yourself."

"Daleks!" Martha cried, apparently having had some stimulation on the other end of the video call. "Decide! The earth or the Crucible?" Suddenly, she vanished, dropping the Auster-Hagaan Key as some sort of transmit took her away. The same thing happened to Jack and the others.

They appeared in a flash beside the Doctor, who yelled at them not to move.

"GET DOWN on your knees! All of you! SURRENDER!" Davros commanded and the Doctor hissed at them to do as he said.

"The final prophecy is in place. The Doctor and his children, all gathered together as witnesses. The time has come. now, detonate the reality bomb!"

"You can't, Davros! Just LISTEN TO ME! JUST STOP!"

"Aaahahahah nothing can stop the detonation! NOTHING! AND NO ONE! Aaahahah!"

Suddenly, a familiar sound reached their ears. The TARDIS was materializing.

**A/N Please leave feedback :)**


	3. Journey's End part 3

**A/N I don't own BBC or Doctor Who**

**Book of the Update: Canterbury Tales by Chaucer**

Chapter 3

"Donna, I'm not destroyin the whole of the Dalek race. I just can't do it," Rose said as the TARDIS was materializing.

"Isn't there something else you could do?"

"I…..I dunno….no!"

Donna ran to the door and peered through the window of the half-materialized TARDIS. "Look, there! Looks like a control panel of sorts. Think you could stop the Daleks with the buttons on that?"

Rose looked out the window and then pulled Donna into a hug. "Donna, you're BRILLIANT!

"Yeah," she agreed, "Suppose I am."

"Would you be a distraction for me please? Just run out holding this – the power will be off – and act like you're about to shoot that mushy half-robot guy, yeah? And then I'll run out and get to the controls?"

She looked apprehensive.

"Don't worry; that gun's just a stun gun, not a blaster of anything, look at it. It's not gonna hurt you, yeah?"

Donna looked out the window again. "Okay. Yeah. Gimme that thing."

Rose handed her the gun and Donna took a deep breath before flinging the door open and running full speed ahead toward the half-robot man. Rose counted to three before jumping out after her, running at an angle towards the control panel, but she had just reached it when she slumped forward from a hit to the back from the stun gun.

"ROSE!" _Oh God, that sounded like mum. I told her to stay in Pete's World_, Rose thought absently.

After a few moments, she could move again and began to slowly inch her way around to controls and to a standing position.

"Stand witness Time Lord. Stand witness, humans. Your strategies have failed. Your weapons are useless. And, oh, the end of the universe has come."

"NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE."

Everyone had been looking at the screen, waiting for the reality bomb to go off, but no one had been looking at Rose. The screen went blank and disappeared. An alarm went off.

"SYS-TEM IN SHUT-DOWN. DET-O-NAT-ION NEG-A-TIVE."

"Think that was the right button, yeah?" Rose asked, smiling a teasing smile with her tongue in her teeth.

"Rose," the Doctor said, his worry lines melting into the biggest grin she'd ever seen. "You are brilliant."

"You will pay for this," Davros boomed, but Rose flipped a switch and electricity shot up his arm, knocking him backward and numbing half of his body.

"Exterminate her!" he yelled and Daleks everywhere began their chant of EX-TER-MIN-ATE.

Rose was flipping levers again. "You should really take the labels off these. They make it a lot easier for someone like me to come in and," the laser arms on every single Dalek fell to their sides, useless, "do something like that." She pressed a big silver button and the energy holding the Doctor and Donna deactivated.

The Doctor ran over to the control panel and took over, telling Rose exactly which button to push or which lever to pull. "Ready?" he asked and she nodded. "Reverse NOW!" they both pulled their levers and the Doctor laughed as each planet was restored to its original position in the universe.

He looked up at her and met her eyes for the first time since she had fallen down the trapdoor with Donna in the TARDIS. "Rose, your eyes-"

"I know, Doctor. And I dunno why."

He frowned, and she knew that once this was all over she would probably have a year's worth of tests done in the infirmary and then some in the lab as well, but that was later, so for now, she could push it aside and pretend there was nothing wrong. The Doctor walked around the control panel and grabbed her face, looking into her eyes.

"Can't see anything – everything looks normal, s'just the irises are-"

"Doctor? Let's just deal with it later, yeah?"

He nodded and released her face, dissatisfied.

"But you promised me, Dalek Caan, you said you foresaw this!" Davros said, his voice shaking with anger, but Caan just laughed.

"Oh I think he did," said the Doctor, "something's been manipulating the timelines for ages, leading Donna and Rose to the right places at the right times." He looked right at Caan, who laughed.

"This would always have happened. I only helped."

"You betrayed the Daleks," Davros spat.

"I _saw_ the Daleks," Caan corrected him, "Everything we have done, throughout time and space – I saw the truth of us, creator, and I decreed NO MORE."

The red Dalek (supreme Dalek) flew in through the ceiling and landed near Davros.

"DAV-ROS, YOU HAVE BET-RAYED THE DA-LEKS."

"No, it was Dalek Caan," he said, disgust evident in his face and voice.

"YOU WILL ALL BE EXT-ERM-INA-TED!" Supreme Dalek shot wildly into the room, but Jack blasted him before he could do much damage. The control panel, however, was fried.

The Doctor ran over to the controls. "Augh! Only one planet left – and guess which one – but we can use the TARDIS to pull it back!" he ran into the TARDIS, followed by Rose, Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane, Mickey, Jackie, and Donna. "If we're very careful, we'll be able to maintain the atmospheric shell."

A jolt went through the ship and the Doctor looked out to see Davros leaning over the controls and every Dalek around him exploding into scrap metal.

"What have you done? DAVROS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

"Fulfilled the prophecy," he grinned maniacally and pressed a final button, successfully killing himself and the Dalek race, which he created.

The Doctor stood in shock, staring at Davros's body, hunched over the control panel of the Crucible as it fell apart. Someone grabbed his arm and tugged him back inside and he vaguely realized that the TARDIS had dematerialized.

"DOCTOR!" Someone shouted and he jerked back into reality. "The earth is still in the wrong part of space!"

"Right! I'm on it." He swung a screen around and tapped in a number. "Torchwood Hub, this is the Doctor, are you receiving me?"

"Loud and clear," said a woman on the other side. "Is Jack there?"

The Doctor looked at him. "Oh yeah. Can't get rid of him. Jack, what's her name?"

"Gwen Cooper."

"Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?"

"Yes," she answered, a bit confused. "All the way back to the 1800s."

He smiled and looked at Rose. "Thought so. Remember Gwyneth? Funny old world. Now listen, Torchwood, I want you to open up that rift manipulator and send all the power to me."

"Doing it now, sir," said a man next to Gwen.

"What's that for?" Rose asked.

"It's a tow rope. Now then, Sarah, what was your son's name?"

"Luke. He's called Luke. And the computer's Mr. Smith."

"Calling Luke and Mr. Smith. This is the Doctor. Come on, Luke, up up up!"

"Is mum there?" asked a boy, probably about 14.

"Oh, she's all fine and dandy. Now, Mr. Smith, I want you to harness the rift power and loop it around the TARDIS, you got that?"

"I regret I will need remote access to TARDIS base code numerals," said a robotic voice from the other side.

"Ohhh," the Doctor groaned, "That's gonna take a while."

"No let me!" Sarah Jane cried and ran over to the Doctor and Rose. "K9? Out ya come!"

The dog appeared in a flash. "Yes mistress?"

"Oh good dog! Give Mr. Smith the TARDIS base code."

"TARDIS base code now being transferred."

"Now then," the Doctor said, moving them all to strategic places on the console. "Sarah, hold that, Mickey hold this, do you know why this TARDIS is always rattling about the place? Rose, that. Because its supposed to have six pilots and ive had to do it single handed. Martha keep that level. But not anymore. Jack keep that steady there. Now we can fly this thing – you Jackie. No. not you. Don't touch anything, just…stand back. Like its meant to be flown! We are gonna fly planet earth back home. Right then, off we go."

And off they went. They pulled the earth all the way back to where it was supposed to be, with 6 pilots like the TARDIS is supposed to have, and nothing went wrong. Made quite a nice chance for the Doctor and his children of time.

**A/N What'd you think? This chapter gave me too much grief ahhh sorry if it sucks**


	4. Journey's End part 4

**AN: I don't own BBC or DW.**

**Book of the Update: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte**

Chapter 4

After the earth was back in its place, the Doctor released the rift energy loop and the TARDIS materialized under a big tree in a little park. He stepped out, followed by Sarah Jane Smith, who gave him a hug and ran off to get Luke – after all, he was only 14.

Martha and Jack walked out of the TARDIS after they saw Sarah Jane leave, and the Doctor made sure to fix Jack's vortex manipulator so that it wouldn't time travel anymore. He warned Martha that she ought to destroy the Osterhagan Key and then two more members of the Doctor's family walked away, hand in hand. Mickey came bursting through those doors next and gave a brief explanation about his Gran before running to catch up with Martha and Jack.

The Doctor smiled, somewhat sadly, and went back into the TARDIS and closed the door. "Alright, one last trip," he said, looking around the room. It was just Donna and Rose now, along with Jackie.

He set the coordinates and when the ship landed again, he slowly walked forward and opened the door. "Jackie…..Rose," he added after a painful pause, "I believe this is your stop."

Jackie ran outside immediately and cursed when she saw where they were. "Blimey! Ya couldn't even bother to bring us straight home? I'm gonna hafta call Pete," she pulled out her phone and dialed the number, walking away grumbling to her husband.

Rose stepped outside and slowly looked around. "But….this is the parallel world," she said softly, turning full circle to face him once more.

He nodded. "Rose, you've got a family here. Once I leave, the walls between universes will close. Forever. I wouldn't be able to come back."

"Yeah, and you just thought you'd dump me here, is that it? Never to be seen again?" he didn't say anything. "Doctor, do you…..do you want me to stay here? Instead of travel with you?"

He saw the hurt in her eyes and immediately walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. "No. Rose, no. Not at all. I know that you _should_ stay here with your mum and Pete and Tony, but I don't want you to, and it's selfish."

She pushed him off. "Then be selfish, Doctor! For once in your life, do something without thinking of anyone else!"

"I can't, Rose. Your family is here. I can't take that away from you."

"Doctor, do you want me to go with you?"

He paused, probably debating whether or not to answer, but finally he sighed and the words "More than anything in the universe," came tumbling out of his mouth and Rose grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her lips firmly on his.

At first, he was frozen, but then he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. When they broke apart, he put his forehead against hers and smiled down at her. "Rose Tyler, I love you."

"I love you too, Doctor."

Jackie broke apart their moment. "I called your father, he said he'd be here in about twenty minutes; apparently he was nearby."

Rose pulled out of the Doctor's embrace. "I'm not staying, mum."

Jackie's smile faded. "What d'ya mean you're not staying?"

She laced her fingers with his. "I'm going back with the Doctor."

"And there's nothing I can do to change your mind I suppose? Well come 'ere then," she said in a shaky voice, holding her arms open.

Rose flung herself into her mum's embrace. "I love you, mum. Tell Pete and Tony that I love them too."

"And you can't…..can't ever come back, is that righ?" Rose nodded. "You just make sure that man treats you right, yeah? And get 'im to fix your eyes; it's a bit freaky."

Rose laughed, but there were tears running down her cheeks. "I'm gonna miss you."

Jackie squeezed her tighter. "I love you." And released her, gently pushing her back toward the Doctor.

"Go on then, get out of 'ere," she said, sniffing. The Doctor took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Jackie.

"I promise you," he whispered, "I will keep your daughter safe."

"Thank you, Doctor."

And then they were off, back in the TARDIS with Donna.

Rose wiped off her face and stood up a bit straighter, taking strength from the TARDIS as she dematerialized.

"Now, Rose, come with me to the infirmary," the Doctor started and Rose groaned. He frowned at her. "We're just going to do a few simple tests; it won't take a second."

Donna snorted disbelievingly and the Doctor glared at her over his shoulder as he led a grumbling Rose down the hall to the infirmary.

"I'll be in the kitchen, so don't be shagging up and down the hallways now! Remember there's someone else on board this ship besides you two!"

"DONNA!" Came the scandalized cry from down the hallway and she smirked and went to make herself some tea.

**A/N well poop. That ending was crap.**

**I've decided to skip "The Next Doctor" because I just don't like it all that much. So we'll be starting again next chapter with "Planet of the Dead". Yeah.**

**Also, I'd like to thank you guys – I already have like 70 people following this story…that's INSANE! And please review, they make me feel good and also tell me how I'm doing on plotlines and keeping people in character and reminds me of things I may have forgotten about.**


	5. In the Medbay

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW.**

**Book of the Update: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan**

Chapter 5

"Open your eyes now," he said, shining the light into them. "Everything seems to be responding normally; your pupils are dilating properly and the color change seems to have no effect at all."

He clicked off the light and let go of her chin. "Which leads me to believe that the color was a side effect of something else, probably mental. Could I-?"

She nodded and he placed his fingers on her temples. "Could I enter your mind? It won't hurt a bit; I just need to see what's happened. If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door closing and I won't look." Rose nodded to show she understood and he closed his eyes and very slowly, very carefully began to enter her mind.

At once, he was overwhelmed. The amount of _love_ she had pulsing through her head – for him, for Jackie, for Pete, for Tony, for Jack and Mickey…even Sarah Jane and a few of his other companions flashed through her thoughts, along with various faces unknown to him, distant friends and family of hers. He had expected her mind to be….unusual, especially for him who was in love with her, but this…this was _phenomenal_. There wasn't a dark corner or broken place to be found. There was forgiveness and love and determination and sympathy and even jealousy, there was even a bit of sadness, but no true anger or sorrow had tainted her thoughts for many, many years.

There was something else though, something….strange. He took a mental step forward and stopped as millions of images flew by: standing on a stage as a gymnastic medal was placed around her neck, falling and scraping her knee, being hugged and pampered by Jackie, dropping out of school for Jimmy Stone, meeting a madman in a blue box, Daleks, the parallel world, facing the Cybermen, almost falling into the void, crying on Bad Wolf Bay, working on the dimension cannon, running toward him in the middle of an empty street, falling in the TARDIS with Donna, controlling the Daleks on the Crucible, and saying goodbye to her mum forever on Bad Wolf Bay.

Her mind was so…open. Like she hadn't even meant to project those images onto him. He frowned as a shimmer of gold caught the corner of his eye and he mentally turned. There, drifting down from somewhere in the top of her mind, was a perfect little trickle of golden dust, creating a shimmering pile in a little blue box on the ground. The gold dust was spilling over the edges of the box and little trails were zooming away to remote corners of her mind, spreading the golden light everywhere.

As the Doctor looked at it, it began to curl up and swirl around his presence within her mind, as if it remembered him. And then he knew.

The Gamestation. The heart of the TARDIS. Rose was burning up. Golden eyes…..regeneration. Bad. Bad; this was very bad. He braced himself and looked to examine the dust closer. Rose didn't seem to be affected other than her eye color; she wasn't burning up and she wasn't in pain. He looked upward. The dust was falling from a patch on the walls of her mind; a worn blue patch with little holes worn through towards the middle. The dust was falling from these holes, one spec at a time.

The patch, though, that was unusual. He'd never seen anything like it, but….it seemed familiar. It _felt_ familiar. Almost like….a part of him? He shuddered, but forced himself closer to the patch to examine it. It was literally just an old, worn-out blue leather patch. On the wall of Rose Tyler's mind.

The patch looked as though it was holding something out, not just letting the dust in. he reached out his mind to whatever was behind it and mentally jerked back as he encountered a burning white-hot pain. It faded once he moved his mind away from the patch. The TARDIS sent Rose a soft hum and it vibrated through her mind and into the Doctor's, who smiled, glad to know his ship and Rose still got along like they used to.

He mentally reached out the golden dust and caught some of it, just to feel it. As soon as he touched it, the dust froze right where it was and just floated in place, shimmering the same as before. He listened, but Rose's mind seemed normal, as if she hadn't even noticed a change.

He frowned, but began to slowly back out of her mind, having gotten as much information as he probably ever would.

When he opened his eyes, Rose was staring at him, having already opened her eyes. They were brown.

He smiled. "Hello."

"Hello," she said softly.

He leaned forward slightly to press his lips to her forehead. "You have the most beautiful brown eyes that I've ever seen, Rose Tyler."

She blinked in shock, reaching a hand up to her eye. "They're normal now?" he nodded and she smiled in relief. "What'd you do?"

He frowned. "I think….and this is just a speculation, but….I think you have a small part of the heart of the TARDIS inside your head. The Time Vortex," he clarified when she looked confused. "Funny, that. Technically, your mind should be burning up right now, every molecule disintegrating, but it's not. There's this….patch…thing. It's acting like a plaster over a scratch, not getting rid of it, but making it better. Protecting it. I think that I might've put that there, back on the Gamestation when I regenerated. Do you remember what happened?"

She shook her head. "Only what you've told me."

"Good, then I've told you pretty much everything. Oh! And that's what happened to Jack; now he can't die. Anyway," he said as she opened her mouth in shock to ask more about Jack, "I must've put that there in my last body and forgotten about it, or maybe I did it without realizing I had done it, who knows. But, right now, that patch is protecting you, but still letting a bit of the Time Vortex through. I think it always has been, but I froze it, kept it from constantly streaming into your head, and that's why your eyes are normal now. whatever you did when you and Donna and the ship fell must've triggered it to start coming in again and the effects became physical."

She bit her lip. "So it's not going to hurt me?"

"It doesn't look like it, no. I'm going to check on it every day or so, but trust me, Rose, I will not let your beautiful mind be put in any danger. Alright?"

She nodded and he grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"We'd better go and check on Donna in the kitchen, yeah?"

He nodded, but when she turned to go, he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, stopping her with only centimetres between their lips. "There's one more thing I'd like to do," he whispered.

She smiled. "And what is that?"

"This."

He leaned forward that little bit and pressed his lips to hers, pulling her close and tilting his head downward, bringing his hands up to cradle her face. Oh yeah, he could get used to doing this all of the time.


	6. Planet of the Dead part 1

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW.**

**Book of the Update: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan**

Chapter 6: Planet of the Dead

"No, Rose. I've told you; you're not getting any of this. This is my special Easter chocolate."

"Oh, shut it you two!" Donna said with a laugh, smacking the Doctor on the chest. "Now, I'm starving and I know that beepy thing a' yours isn't gonna wait twenty minutes for me to pop in at a restaurant and get somethin' to go, so you two go on ahead. I'll meet you back at the TARDIS in an hour and if I don't hear from you by then, I'll come find you. Deal?"

"Yeah….yeah, okay," the Doctor mumbled, swinging around in circles, following the little metal device in his right hand. His left hand held the gold foil wrapper full of chocolate, which he was taking bites of periodically.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Here," she said, giving Donna what looked like a cell phone, "That's Torchwood technology. 's locked onto the Doctor's biological signature, so it shouldn't be too hard to find us if there's trouble. Just press this little red button to find 'im."

The Doctor didn't even turn away from his gadget, but said teasingly, "And why did you have that, Rose?"

She mock glared at him. "Alright, so maybe I did come back to this universe _specifically_ to find you, and that thing there helped me do it. Happy?"

He grabbed her waist and swung her around, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Very."

She waved bye to Donna over her shoulder as the Doctor grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the street, holding up his gadget to the sky. Rose yelled out apologies to lots of people who were shoved out of the way by the frantic Time Lord.

The gadget beeped and the Doctor let out a victorious "HAH!" and pulled Rose around a sharp corner and finally jerked to an abrupt stop in front of a big red double-decker bus. He pulled her up the steps and inside the bus, only stopping and releasing her hand to flash his psychic paper to pay the bus driver, which Rose wholeheartedly disapproved of. Mostly.

He sat them down in seats behind a girl a bit older than Rose with dark brown hair and a backpack held tightly in her lap.

"See Rose? The signal is heading this way, so it's easier just to follow it on a bus," he said with a trademark Doctor Laugh at the end and she grinned.

"Yeah, can I have some 'a that chocolate now?"

He looked at her for a good while before relenting. "Oh all right." He broke her off a decent sized piece and then leaned forward to the girl with the dark hair. "Would you like some? Seeing as how I'm practically giving it all away anyhow," he asked her and she gave him a funny look. "I'm the Doctor, by the way, and this is Rose. Happy Easter." After his introductions were complete, he smiled and shoved a bit of chocolate into his mouth.

"Funny thing is though," he explained, to Rose or the girl, maybe both, "I hardly ever _do_ Easter. I can never find it! I was there for the original, though," he said and Rose had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. This girl, whoever she was, probably thought he was mad! "Between just us three, what really happened was-" his gadget began to beep again, and he began digging around in his pockets for the thing. "Oh! Sorry, here hold onto that for me," and he shoved the chocolate into Rose's hands. "You know what? Go on, have it. Too much sugar anyways; I'm determined to keep these teeth that you like so much," he added with a wink at her.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, pulling the thing out and jiggling it around. "Ooh, we've got excitation! Now I'm picking up something….very strange." He held the thing up to his ear and began to spin a dial on the back of it, bobbing his head up and down.

"I know the feeling," the girl said, speaking for the first time. She kept looking out the window behind them, Rose noted, like she was looking for something. Or running from someone.

"Rondium particles. 's what I'm looking for," The Doctor announced, extending the antenna on the gadget and flicking a little dish on the top of it. "This thing detects them. That little dish should go around, Rose. Why isn't the little dish going around?" he asked, showing her. She shrugged and patted his arm consolingly as he frowned and fiddled with the little dish.

"Right now a way out would come in pretty handy," said the girl, "Can you detect me one of those?"

"What are you running from?" Rose asked and the girl jumped a little, as though she had forgotten she was there.

"None of your business," she snapped and Rose leaned back in her seat, watching as the girl began to anxiously tap her foot and looked out the window every few seconds.

"Ahh, the little dish is going around."

"Fascinating."

"That's great, Doctor. So what exactly does the little dish do?"

He ignored her. "Oh wow. Ooooh," he jumped up as the gadget began to spark and smoke.

"Scuse me. Do ya' mind?" asked a woman across the aisle.

"Sorry," Rose apologized for him.

"Can't you turn that thing off?" there goes the girl again. Rose ignored her this time. _Teach you right for snappin at me_, she thought.

"Sorry. What was your name?"

"Christina," the girl answered, a bit too enthusiastically for Rose's taste.

"Right. Well then, Christina, hold on tight," warned the Doctor before coming to stand by Rose. He wrapped one arm around her and the other around the pole in the aisle of the bus. "Rose hold on tight to something."

"Everyone, HOLD ON!" He yelled, just as the bus jerked forward at warp speed and the lights flickered off. Everyone screamed as they were tossed forward and every which way in the bus's wild movements. Suddnly, a bright light shone through the windows, nearly blinding everyone. Rose buried her head in the Doctor's side to shield her eyes.

When the light faded and the movements stopped, she pulled away her face to see smoke everywhere. The Doctor moved his arm from her waist, but reached down to grab her hand instead and they walked to the door of the bus together.

"End of the line," he said, looking out over the sand. Because that's all there was, whichever way you looked: sand.

They walked out of the bus and looked around them again, but still saw just sand.

"Call it a guess, but I think we've gone a bit farther than Brixton," Rose said mildly, staring wide-eyed at the desert surrounding them.

"'s a lucky guess," he said. "Think you're right, sweetheart."

He put his brainy specs on and knelt down in the sand, running it through his fingers, bringing it up to his face for inspection.

"Ready for every emergency," said Christina as she walked over and showed off her sunglasses.

The Doctor took his brainy specs off and sonic'ed them, tinting the lenses for UV protection before putting them back on. "Me too."

"And what's your name?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"I said name, not rank," she said with her hands on her hips.

"The Doctor," he said again.

"Is that a name?"

"The Doctor."

"You're called 'the Doctor?'" she asked incredulously and Rose cut in, getting annoyed:

"Yeah. He is."

"That's not a name; that's a psychological condition."

"Oh no," Rose complained when she saw the Doctor stick his tongue out to the sand on his palm. "You're not going to lick it are you? Ooof course you are…" she said with a sigh when he did lick it, scrunching up his nose and tasting it again. "Better wash out your mouth before you expect me to-"

"Something's weird in this sand; there's a trace of something else," he made a noise and wiped off his tongue with the back of his hand and Rose laughed.

"Not good?"

"Well it wouldn't be; it's sand," Christina said snarkily in response to Rose's _rhetorical_ question.

"No, it tastes like….." he faded off before sniffing loudly and standing up, brushing off his hands on his pants. "Never mind." And began to walk farther out in the desert.

Rose followed him. "Doctor, what did the sand taste like?"

He frowned. "Not good, Rose. Most definitely _not good_."

"Hold on a minute," said a dark-skinned man who had been sitting a few rows behind them on the bus. "You had that thing; did you make this happen?"

The Doctor groaned and ran a hand over his face. "Oh my – humans on buses; always blaming me for everything! Look, look, if you must know, we were tracking a hole in the fabric of reality."

"Call it a hobby," Rose said with her classic tongue-in-teeth smile. The Doctor grinned at her.

"But," he continued, "It was a tiny little hole – no danger to anyone! And then….it got bigger and we drove right through it," he finished in a small voice.

"But then where is it? Th-there's nothing; there's just sand." the bus driver asked and Rose rolled her eyes and walked towards the back end of the bus.

"Alright. You lot want proof?" she picked up a handful of sand. "We drove," she threw the sand into the air behind the bus and it wavered where the hole was. "through this."

"And that's….?" Christina trailed off, waiting for an answer.

"It's like a door," Rose tried to explain, "in space."

"Smart girl," the Doctor chimed, walking up to stand beside her.

"So what you're saying is on the other side of that is home? We can get to London through there?" asked the bus driver, all pointing fingers and enthusiasm.

The Doctor bobbed his head from side to side, like he was deciding how to answer. "Well, not exactly. The bus came through, but we can't." They all gave disbelieving noises and grumbles. The bus driver seemed to ignore the Doctor's last words because he excitedly asked what they were all waiting for and ran towards the worm hole, ignoring the Doctor and Rose shouting to stop.

As soon as his skin touched the wormhole, he screamed as it burnt the flesh straight off his bones and shot him through to the other side.

"He was a _skeleton_, man! Bones, just BONES!" the black man cried out, pointing at the hole.

"It was the bus," Rose said in a shaky voice. "The only thing that kept us from ending up like that was the bus."

"Rather like a Faraday cage," said Christina and another boy added on saying,

"Like in a thunderstorm, yeah? The safest place to be is a car because the metal conducts the lightning straight through."

Christina nodded at him and then looked back at the destroyed bus. "But if we can only travel back inside the bus, the Faraday cage needs to be closed; that thing's been ripped wide open."

"Slight damage from the wormhole. There's enough metal to make it work, I think," the Doctor said after quickly assessing the damage.

"Then we have to drive ten tons of bus, which is currently buried in the sand, through there using only our bare hands, correct?"

"You're a 'glass half empty' kind of person aren't you?" Rose grumbled at Christina, who stood there with her arms crossed in a bored stance.

"I'd say nine and a half tons," the Doctor pointed out. "But, the point still stands, yeah."

"Well then, we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline. Which starts with appointing a leader," Christina announced right before cutting off the Doctor and appointing herself as leader.

"Alright. Well everyone do exactly as I say; inside the bus, immediately."

"Is it safe in there?" asked the boy and she smiled grimly.

"I don't think anything's safe anymore, but if it's a choice between baking in there or roasting out here, I'd say baking is slower. Come on. All of you, right now. And you, 'The Doctor'."

He grit his teeth and grabbed Rose's hand. "Yes ma'am."

"It would be a sad day in history if a Time Lord were to regenerate simply out of annoyance," he whispered to Rose and she laughed as Christina had them all sit down facing her like school children while she began 'disciplinary problem solving' step one. There were five steps to go, and she planned on going through them all very thoroughly.

The Doctor groaned and slouched in his bus seat, leaning his head against Rose's shoulder. "Don't drool on me," she muttered.

"I'll try my best," he whispered back. "Bet you wish I had saved that chocolate now, huh?"

She flicked his forehead. "shut up."


	7. Planet of the Dead part 2

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW  
Book of the Update: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins**

Chapter 7

"Death. Death is coming," Carmen said slowly, starting everyone on the bus into a panic, yelling and screaming at her. She looked as if she were about to cry.

"Alright, stop it! Everyone, STOP IT!" The Doctor yelled and the bus went silent except for Angela, who was weeping and hyperventilating. The Doctor stood up and grabbed her shoulders. "Angela. Angela, look at me. Just answer me one question," he said soothingly and she quieted. "There we go. Now, just answer me this. When you got on this bus, where were you going?"

"Doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Just answer the question," he repeated, not unkindly.

"Nowhere. Nowhere, just home."

"And what's home, Angela?"

"Me," she began to cry again. "And Mike and Suzanne, 's my daughter; she's eighteen," she finished quietly and the Doctor released her, smiling.

"Good. An what about you?" He asked Barclay, who looked up and answere meekly:

"Dunno," he said, shrugging. "To hang out at Tina's."

"Is Tina your girlfriend?" Rose asked and he smiled, nodding his head.

"Good boy," The Doctor said with a grin that faded when Rose elbowed him. He cleared his throat. "Right then. What about you, Natahn?"

"Back ta' the house. Lost my job last week," he admitted a bit sheepishly, "was gonna stay in and watch TV."

"Brilliant. And you?" He asked Lou and Carmen.

"I was going home to cook," Lou said and Carmed backed him up, saying,

"It's his turn tonight. I clear up."

"What's for tea?" The Doctor asked her and Lou answered him.

"Chops. Nice couple a' chops and gravy. Nothing special."

"Oh, that's special," the Doctor told them with a wave of his hand, "That is so special. Chops and gravy. Mmm. What about you, then?"

"I-" Christina stopped and brushed her hair back. "I was going…so far away."

"Far away, chops and gravy, Mike and Suzanne, poor old Tina," the Doctor said (Barclay gave an indignant oi at the subtle insult, but the Doctor ignored him.) "Just think a' them. Cause that planet out there; with three suns and wormholes and alien sands, that planet is nothing. D'ya hear me? Nothing…compared to all those thing waiting for you. Food and home and people," he laced his fingers with Rose's and gave her hand a squeeze at this, "Just hold onto that. Cause we're gonna get there. I promise. I'm gonna get you home."

This seemed to cheer everyone up and after a moment or two, the Doctor released Rose's hand and stood up, clapping his hands once and rubbing them together. "Right! Then let's get to work. First, you two," he said, pointing at Nathan and Barclay, "pull up all the wood paneling on the seats, anything flat you can find and bring them outside to me. You," he pointed at Rose and Christina, "Come with me."

They walked outside to examine the outside of the bus again and looked around at it.

"Let the air out of the tires. Just a little bit. Spreads the weight of the bus. Gives you more grip against the sand," Christina suggested and the Doctor made a noise.

"Ohh that's good," he said appreciatively and Barclay gave them a look.

"Yeah but those wheels go deep," he said, showing an estimate with his hands.

"Well then you better start digging," Christina said with a smile, pulling up a foldable shovel out of her backpack. Barclay raised his eyebrows but took the shovel and began to dig. "Oh, and here," she said, handing an axe to Nathan. "Might help with the seats."

"What else have you got in there? The kitchen sink?" Rose asked incredulously and Christina smirked.

"Prepared for every emergency."

The Doctor ran off to tell Angela that buses didn't have keys because apparently she'd been looking for them for quite some time. She must've figured it out, though, because the engine made a noise like it was about to start, but only some smoke and a groaning noise came out of the poor bus.

"Ooh. That didn't sound good." The Doctor walked around and pulled up the hood of the bus to look at the engine. "Ugh. Never mind losing half the top deck, you know what's worse? Sand," he said, answering his own question.

"Anyone know mechanics?" Rose asked hopefully, and Barclay stood up.

"Me. I did a two-week MBQ at the garage. Never finished it though."

"Off you go then," the Doctor told him, "Try stripping the air filter. Back in a few ticks," he told Christina, "Come on, Rose."

"Wait a minute!" Christina said, stepping after them, "You're the one with all the answers; I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Rose rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand. Oblivious man. He didn't even notice that Christina was blatantly flirting with him – and with Rose right there as well; it was quite obvious her and the Doctor were together and she was sure she would like Christina if the girl would just _back off._

"It'd be a bit easier if you left that backpack behind,"Rose said, noting the way she was shifting its weight as though it was uncomfortable.

"No thank you," Christina replied sharply, "Where I go, it goes."

"Backpack," the Doctor began, "With a spade and an axe. Christina, who's going so far away and yet scared at the sound of a siren. Who are you?"

"You can talk. Let's just say we're two equal mysteries."

Rose wondered idly if Christina could feel her eyes staring daggers at the girl's back.

"Doctor, Carmen said the wormhole wasn't an accident; someone did it on purpose, yeah? So who did it?"

"I don't know…but every instinct I've got is telling me to get off this planet right now," he said and Rose shuddered. If the Doctor was admitting that they were in trouble, it meant that they were in _trouble_.

"D'ya think we can?" Christina asked.

"I'm sure we can find a way off," Rose said, "Right?"

The Doctor thought for a moment. "I try to live in hope."

"Must be nice," Christina said, and Rose felt bad for thinking all those rude things about her. She knew nothing about this girl; she didn't know her story or what she had been going through. She shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

Christina seemed to notice her staring, because she sighed and held out her hand. "It's Christina DeSuza," she told her, shaking Rose's hand. "Lady Christina DeSuza, to be precise."

"Oh really?" The Doctor asked. "Funny coincidence, that. I'm a lord." Rose giggled.

"Really? A lord of where?"

"Oh, it's a….big estate," he said eventually, not wanting to say Time itself. A bit presumptuous, that title was. Time Lord. Huh.

"No, but there's something more about you," Christina muttered, "About the both of you. That little device, and the wormhole, like you knew. And the way you two stride around this place like…"

"Like?"

"Like you're not quite…"

_Human_? Rose asked mentally. _You'd be right on that score, _Lady_ Christina De Suza_.

The Doctor brushed it off. "Anyway. Best be off. _Allons_-_y_!"

"Ah," he said once they had gone a while. "Don't like the look of that."

"Storm clouds," Rose noted. "But…they must be hundreds of miles away."

"But they're…getting closer."

"If that's a sandstorm," Christina breathed,

"We'll get ripped to shreds," Rose finished for her.

"It's a storm," agreed the Doctor, "Who said it's sand?" they turned and began to walk back to the bus. "Rose, have you got your mobile?" she nodded and held it out to him. "Still got the upgrades?" she nodded again and he grinned. "Fantastic."

"You're hardly going to get a signal out here," Christina objected, "We're on another _planet_!"

He ignored her. "Got to remember the number," he said as he was punching it in. "Very important number."

It began to ring.

"Pizza Journey Delivery Service may I take your order?"

"Auhh, seven six one, not seven two one. Got it."

They were back at the bus by now and as it was ringing they walked inside.

"This is the Unified Intelligence Task Force. Please select one of the following four options," said a pre-recorded voice on the other line. The Doctor growled.

"Oh I hate these things."

"If you hold down zero, it'll send you to a real person," Angela called out and he mumbled a thankyou and held down the zero button.

"UNIT help line. Which department would you like?" came a cheery, not prerecorded voice from the other side.

"Listen, this is the Doctor. It's me."

"Doctor? This is Captain Arisa Montgombo. Might I say sir, it is an honor."

"Did you just salute?" The Doctor asked suspiciously and the Captain responded with an uncertain no. "Listen, Arisa, you're outside the tunnel, yeah?"

"And where are you?"

"I'm on the bus, but apart from that," he leaned over to look out the window, "Not a clue. Except it's very pretty. And pretty dangerous."

"A body came through here," said Captain Montgombo, "Have you sustained any more fatalities?"

"No, and we're not going to," the Doctor told her, "But I'm stuck. We haven't got the TARDIS and I need to analyze that wormhole."

"We have a scientific advisor on sight," she said through the phone, "Doctor Malcom Taylor. Just the man you need – he's a genius."

"Oh well, we'll see about that," the Doctor grumbled and Rose elbowed him. "Being rude again?"

"Rude and decidedly not ginger," she confirmed and he grinned.

"I'm glad you're back."

"Me too."

After a bit of mumbling between Captain Montgombo and presumably Doctor Taylor about sore throats and doctors, and then a while of listening to Malcom freak out about speaking to the Doctor, they finally got down to business.

"Now, run a capacity scanner and get back to me when youre finished. I'll need a full report. And Malcom, you're my new best friend."

He snapped the phone shut and put it in his pocket ("don't worry, Rose, I won't break it like last time, I swear!") and ran out of the bus, followed closely by Rose and Christina.

"I'll send this back to earth; see if Malcom can analyze the storm," he explained, taking a picture of the storm.

"Doctor, what's that bit of sparkle in the clouds?" Rose asked. "It's just there, look."

"'S like metal," he said with a frown.

"Why would there be metal in a storm?" Christina asked, completely bewildered. "Do you hear that?"

"Hold on," the Doctor said, "Busy."

"I heard it. That sort of clicking noise?" Rose asked and Christina nodded.

They turned to where the noise had come from, only to be faced with…something.

"Doctor," Christina said, and he turned.

"Oh."

After a conversation between the Doctor and the alien in a strange clicking language (which Rose understood; god had she missed the TARDIS translator while in the parallel world), they were lead back to the destroyed ship.

"Ugh! But this place is freezing!" Christina whined once they got inside.

"Better than burning up outside," Rose countered and the Doctor grinned.

"That's my girl; anything can be good if you allow it to be. And besides, this is beautiful! Intact it must've been a magnificent spacer."

"Well I'll remember that as I'm bleeding to death on the floor of a really well-designed spaceship.


	8. Planet of the Dead part 3

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW  
Book of the Update: Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George**

**P.S. I skipped quite a bit of this episode; maybe 20 minutes before this part because it was dull and I didn't want to write it all out so just pretend it happened between the chapters.**

Chapter 8

"The aristocracy survives for a reason. We're ready for anything," she said just before opening her arms wide and falling into the pit.

"No!" The Doctor cried, and he leaned over wrestling with the clip to make the cord stop, which it did just in time.

"I decide when I stop, thank you," she said, her voice echoing up through the tunnel.

"No, you were about to hit the security grid, look," Rose said, pushing a button to make it visible.

Christina gasped. "Oh. Right. So what do I do now?"

"Try the big red button," the Doctor told her helpfully, albeit a bit sarcastically.

She hit it and the sound of the grid powering down reached Rose's ears a few moments later, along with a "well done".

"Now, come back up, I can do that," he told her but she just laughed.

"Oh don't you wish."

"Slowly! Bit strange though, isn't it?" he asked Rose loudly, "Lady Christina DeSuza carrying a winch in her bag."

"No stranger than you, spaceman," came the echo up the tunnel.

"Oh, if only Donna were here," Rose teased, "They could make a club."

"Donna? Does she call you spaceman as well?" Christina teased right alongside Rose. "But was she right? Do you zoom around space in a rocket ship?"

He laughed. "Well, more of a little blue box, but yeah. Guess we do. But it travels through more than space, Christina," he added as he saw the corner of something suspiciously golden poking out of her bag, "It travels through time. Oh the places we've been. I've been to the creation of the universe. And the ending of the universe. And I've been in World War One and I've been to the first human colony on the planet Zoroster. And funny enough, I've also been to the court of King Afflestan in 924 A.D., but I don't remember you being there," he said as he pulled out the golden chalice from her bag. "So what are you doing with this?"

Rose's eyes grew wide as she saw the ancient cup.

"Excuse me. A gentleman never goes through a lady's posessions."

"It's the cup of Afflestan," he explained to Rose, "It was given to him as a coronation gift from the Welsh. Only thing is that it's been held in the international gallery for 200 years. Which makes you, _Lady_ Christina, a thief."

"I like to think I liberated it."

"'s not like you need the money," Rose said incredulously.

"Daddy lost everything. Invested his fortune in the Icelandic banks."

"No no no no no. Rose, if she wanted money, she would've robbed a bank. Stealing something like this, now….that's a lifestyle." The Doctor whistled softly and placed the cup back into her bag.

A loud hissing clang echoed from down by Christina. "What the blazes was that?"

"We never did find out why this ship crashed. I think you should come back up Christina."

"Not a chance! I can see it."

"Have you got an open vent system?" the Doctor asked and the fly clicked out a yes.

"What's that mean?" Rose asked him, looking down the tunnel for Christina.

"'S like when birds fly into the engines of an aircraft-"

She gasped. "One of the creatures."

He stood up, pulling out his sonic and tossing it to Rose. "Got stuck in the vent system, caused the crash. Christina, get out!"

"No, I think it's sleeping," she mumbled, but the Doctor shook his head.

"No, it's dormant because it's so cold down there, but your body heat is raising the temperature."

"Almost got it."

"Not just the crystal; I need the whole plate and everything."

"I've got it!"

Rose turned the sonic on the wench clip, willing it to pull the cord faster. "Come on, come on," she mumbled, hearing the sounds of the creature smashing around below.

The Doctor ran over to a control panel thing and began frantically pressing buttons, effectively turning back on the security grid, just in time to stop the creature from catching Christina.

She finally reached level with them and got out and handed the Doctor the crystal with a smile.

They convinced the fly-creatures to come with them and together they all began to run down the hallway, but stopped when a portion of the ceiling broke open and a creature flew down, killing one of the fly-creatures and eating the other as it tried to shoot the thing.

Rose covered her mouth with shock, but the Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her along, saying there was nothing they could do, so RUN!

They ran until they got to the bus once more and Malcom tried to call them halfway there, to which the Doctor yelled "NOT NOW MALCOM" and promptly hung up on him.

When they got to the bus, the Doctor told Rose and Christina to get inside as he stuck the clamps on and followed them as quickly as he could.

Christina handed the Doctor the hammer he asked for and then said, "So what do the clamps do? Turn the wheels?"

"Yeah something like that," he said, and then turned to Rose and handed her her mobile. "Press redial."

"Hey Malcom, it's me."

"I'M READY!"

"Ready for what?"

"I don't know; you tell me!"

"I'm going to try to get back, but listen there might be something following us. You need to find a way to close the wormhole!"

"Would that be a compressed wave on a counter-oscelation purtich?"

"Oh Malcom, you are brilliant."

"Coming from you, sir, that means the world! Doctor, what sort of something? That wormhole is growing and I need to know the exact nature of the threat," Captain Montgombo asked, but the Doctor made a face.

"Sorry, got to go." And Rose hung up the phone. The Doctor made a frustrated noise as he bent the metal arms on the contraption he had stuck onto the steering wheel. It sparked and he growled, banging it. "UGH! It's not compatible. Well, bus, spaceship, different things I suppose. I need to weld the two systems together."

"And how do you do that?" Christina asked from over his shoulder.

"I'd need something metal, something non-corrosive, something malleable, something ductile…gold."

She backed up, holding her backpack close. "Oh no you don't."

"Christina," Rose said, "What is it worth now? You could save all of our lives," she stressed the last part and Christina gave her a long hard look before reaching into her bag and pulling out the chalice.

"It's over 1,000 years old, worth 18 million pounds, so promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise," said the Doctor, right before taking the hammer and smashing it into the cup, denting the sides over and over.

Christina sighed. "I hate you. Both of you."

"This is your driver speaking," the Doctor announced, "Hold on tight. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

He turned the wheel and the bus began to rise into the air. "Anti-gravity clamps, didn't I tell you?"

"Oh God, I love you," Rose said with a laugh.

"I know," he answered cheekily, giving her a wink. "Alright, hold on, everyone! Round we go!" he turned the bus so sharply that everyone was nearly on their sides and then it righted itself, facing the invisible wormhole.

"Doctor!" Carmen shouted, looking out the back window, "They're coming!" Sure enough, thousands of the creatures were soaring towards them.

"D'ya think this thing will survive the journey back?" Christina shouted and Rose answered, laughing:

"Well, there's only one way to find out! Next stop, planet earth!"

They were all plunged into darkness as the bus shot through the wormhole and out the other side, flying up over the policemen and into the night sky, followed by 3 or 4 of the creatures. Shots sounded below them as UNIT opened fire on the creatures.

Rose pressed redial on her mobile and shouted over the noise. "Malcom? Message from the Doctor: close that wormhole, now!"

"I will, ma'am."

She moved the phone from her ear. "He's hung up on me!"

"Well, call him again!" The Doctor said and she did.

"MALCOM!"

"Not now! I'm busy!"

She called again when he hung up.

"MALCOM LISTEN! He says he needs the signal! He told me to tell you to bump it up 500 Burnens!"

"Yes ma'am tell him I will. YES! IT'S WORKING!"

"DOCTOR IT'S COMING FOR US!" Shouted Nathan, pointing out the window at the creature flying straight toward them.

"Oh no you don't," the Doctor said and turned the steering wheel to swing the bus around and hit the creature like a golf club hitting a ball.

"Did I say I hated you two?" Christina asked. "Well I lied," she answered with a grin, giving Rose a quick hug.

"Ladies and gentleman, you have reached your destination," the Doctor announced, "On the mighty 200."

He slowly landed the bus and they all piled out to the sound of clapping and cheering crowds and a UNIT soldier led them all over to be screened, save for Christina, who was taken away to be dealt with as a criminal. The Doctor flashed his psychic paper at him and breezed by the screenings, bringing Rose with him.

A short man resembling a baby monkey with glasses came up and hugged the Doctor. "And you must be Malcom Taylor, I presume?"

"I love you. I love you!"

"To your station, Doctor Taylor," said Captain Montgombo and Malcom released the Doctor and walked away, stopping once to call back that he loved him. The Doctor just sort of waved.

"Doctor," said Captain Montgombo, "I salute you whether you like it or not. And your friend…?"

"Rose Tyler," she said, giving a nod.

"I salute you as well, Ms. Tyler. Now, I take it we're safe from those things?"

"They'll start again, generate a new doorway. 's not their fault; it's their natural life cycle. But I'll see if I can nudge the wormholes onto uninhabited planets. Closer to home, Captain," he added, pointing out Barclay and Nathan, "Those two do very well in a crisis. And…" he trailed off, looking at Christina who was being scanned and clapped in irons.

"I'll see what I can do," the Captain promised. "Here, something for you," she gestured to the Tardis, being rolled around in a little cart. "Found it outside the gardens in Buckingham Palace."

"Oh, she doesn't mind. This is a lot better than a bus, yeah Rose?"

"Now Doctor, I've got three dead alien stingrays to clean up, you two fancy helping with the paperwork?"

"Not a chance," said the Doctor immediately and she laughed and shook his hand with a quick farewell before walking away.

"Doctor, you be careful," Carmen said as she walked by, "Because your song is ending soon."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked.

"It is returning. It is returning through the dark. Oh but Doctor….oh but then, he will knock four times."

The Doctor got a funny look on his face, but the thoughts faded to the back of his mind when he looked over and saw Christina being put into a police car, handcuffs on her wrist.

He looked at Rose. "Should I?" She nodded and he flicked the sonic to unlock her handcuffs. Christina went in one door, out the other and ran over to the empty bus, shutting herself inside. The Doctor and Rose came over and the head policeman yelled at them as well, saying they were under arrest.

"Yeah. Of course," Rose said. "We'll just…step inside this police box. Arrest ourselves. Save you the trouble."

They walked back to the TARDIS, hand in hand and waved at Christina in her big red double-decker bus as she flew across the sky. They unlocked the door and went back inside their little blue box called home.

"Oh! I should call Donna; she's probably worried sick!" Rose picked up her phone to call but the Doctor pushed it out of her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Time machine, remember? For all she knows, we were gone twenty minutes."

Rose pushed his arms away. "No, Doctor. We ought to be good friends and go back right this moment and tell her the truth."

He smirked and wrapped his arms around her again. "Yes, but Rose, people never seem to do as they ought to, haven't you noticed?"

She gasped. "Doctor, you dirty old man!"

He leaned in close to her ear. "Oh you know you love me."

"Oh, yes I do…"


	9. In the TARDIS library

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW.**

**Book of the Update: The Sands of Time by Michael Hoeye**

Chapter 9

Later that night, as Rose laid in her pink and white bed in her room on the TARDIS, she couldn't stop thinking long enough to fall asleep. After at least an hour or two of tossing and turning, she got up and walked out of her room, quietly closing the door behind her. She headed down the hallway to the library, where the Doctor spent most of his nights.

When she got there, sure enough, he was sitting on the sofa facing the fireplace. He was reading a book. She stood there for a moment, just watching him. He had taken off his jacket and tie, leaving him in just a white button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had his brainy specs on again and was staring intently at the book as he read.

She must've made some noise, or perhaps he could just sense her, because he turned around and caught her staring. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," he teased and she smiled at him. He put his arms out for her to come over and she did, curling up beside him on the sofa.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Rose spoke. "Doctor?" he mmm'ed and she continued, "What did Carmen mean when she said….that your song would end soon?"

The Doctor blew air out through his lips and stretched his legs out on the sofa, pulling Rose down to lay on top of him. Her head rested on his chest and he reached up a hand to play with her hair, wrapping his other arm tightly around her waist. They laid like that for quite some time until he finally answered her question in a quiet, raspy voice. "I'm going to die."

Rose took a sharp breath and her arms tightened around him. "Don't say that."

"No, Rose. I am going to die," he told her, "and soon. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I know that I am going to die sometime in the near future."

"But…you'll regenerate, yeah?"

"But I still die. Even if I regenerate, it still feels like dying. Everything I am dies," he said, his voice getting tight and his eyes getting hot, "A new man goes sauntering away…and I am dead," he finished with a choked gasp and Rose leaned up to meet his eyes, which were filled to the brim with unshed tears.

"Oh Doctor," she said, placing a hand on his cheek, "You kn-"

"No, I don't know. I don't know anything. I don't know who the new man will be or what he will look like or how he will act. I don't know what he'll believe in, or _who_ he'll believe in…I don't know what he'll like to do or to eat…I don't know how he'll treat people….Rose, I don't know if he'll love you. What if this new man, this horrible new man I become drives you away? I don't want to die, Rose. I don't want to change," he looked at her, lip quivering, the tears having finally fallen and been brushed away by her fingers on his cheeks.

"I told you, I'm never going to leave you. And when you change, sure, everything about you changes, but you're still the same person, deep down. You're still my Doctor. And I will always love you, no matter who you become," she took a breath and started to continue, but the Doctor made her stop short when he sat up, taking her with him, and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug, pressing his face into her hair and breathing deeply.

"Thank you. Thank you, Rose."

She smiled and just hugged him tighter, letting him take his strength from her. He pulled back after a minute or two.

"Now then," he said with his usual cheerfulness, taking her hand and leading her back down the hallway, "Shouldn't you be sleeping? You know you need to; you humans and your sleep, you never seem to get enough. Ah, here you are!" he announced, stopping at the door to her bedroom.

She laughed and pulled him down for a quick kiss. "Goodnight Doctor."

"Goodnight, Rose."

She opened the door and walked over to her bed and sat down, falling onto her side underneath a fluffy comforter. She heard the Doctor start to walk away and realized that he must've been there all along.

"Doctor?" she called out and he poked his head into the room. "Would you…would you stay?"

He hesitated and she thought she might have overstepped some boundary, but then she watched as the Doctor stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind him and walked over to her bed, looking down at her awkwardly. She scooted over a bit and patted the space beside her.

He used his feet to pull of his trainers and slowly sat down on the bed and laid beside her. She smiled and snuggled up against him, smiling broader when he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her towards him so that her back was pressed against his chest.

"Is this…." She trailed off, not really knowing what she was asking. Was this overstepping a boundary? Against some Time Lord rule?

"This is perfect," he said, his lips near her ear. "Absolutely perfect."

She smiled as he kissed her cheek and whispered, "I love you," into her ear.

"I love you," she mumbled back, just as she was falling asleep in the arms of her very own, very special Time Lord.

DOCTOR WHO

Rose blinked her eyes open to see the Doctor staring down at her. "Morning," she said.

"Good morning."

Rose sat up and stretched, yawning. "Now I've got to – yawn – get dressed, so shoo shoo," she said, tossing her pillow at him.

He surrendered with both hands up, laughing, and swooped down to kiss her before grabbing his shoes and strutting out into the hallway. As soon as he shut the door behind him, though, Donna walked around the corner and, upon seeing him outside Rose's bedroom, wearing the same rumpled clothes as the day before, smirked and gave him a look over the top of her coffee mug.

He glared at her, pointing a finger. "Stop it. Stop it right now, Donna Noble. 's not like that," he said sheepishly, trying to explain that it was not what it looked like. Needless to say, she didn't believe him.

He waved his hand and walked away to the kitchen, probably blushing scarlet all the way to his ears.

The Doctor plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs after grabbing himself a jar of marmalade and sticking his finger into it, getting up and getting bread to put it on when Donna walked in and gave him 'the look'.

Rose walked in a little while later and the Doctor jumped up when she sat down. "So, where do you want to go next?" he asked them both.

Rose shrugged and looked at Donna.

"I wanna see Mars, spaceman."

"Alright then," he said with a trademark Doctor grin, "Mars it is."

**A/N Ok, so this wasn't very good. BUT I would love to hear feedback from you all – this story's already more popular than I thought it would be, so thank you all :)**

**On another note, WHO WATCHED THE FIFTIETH YESTERDAY? **


	10. Waters of Mars part 1

**A/N I don't own DW  
Book of the Update: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling**

Chapter 10: The Waters of Mars

"November 21, 2059."

The Doctor's face fell and he seemed at a loss for words. "Right. Kay, right."

"Is something wrong?" asked Steffi in confusion.

"What's so important about my age?" Mia wondered aloud, but the Doctor didn't answer either of them.

He swallowed. "We should…go. We really…should go," he took Rose's hand and grabbed Donna's arm to pull them away. "I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry with all of my hearts. But…it's one of those rare times when I've got no choice. It's been an honor," he said, dropping their hands to go and give a handshake to everyone in the crew, "A real honor…to meet you all. The Martian pioneers. Thank you." He patted Gadget the robot on the head and saluted Captain Adelaide.

Donna looked at Rose in bewilderment, but Rose just smiled sadly. She didn't know what was going on, but she had a feeling that this was one fixed point in time that wouldn't end too well.

"Hold on," The Doctor said, looking around, "There's the other two. Margaret Cain and Andrew Stone?"

Ed walked over to a computer and said to the webcam, "Maggie, if you want to meet the only new human being that you're gonna see in the next five years, better come take a look."

A growling sort of sound reached their ears and everyone looked at the speakers, suddenly put on alert.

"What was that?" Rose asked nervously.

The Doctor took a step back, running his hands over his face. "Ooohh, we really should go."

"This is central," Ed said to the webcam, "Bioderm report immediately." He pressed a few buttons and said, "Looks like the cameras are down."

"Show me the exterior," commanded Adelaide, and he pressed more buttons, showing them something on the screen that Donna, Rose, and the Doctor couldn't see.

"I'm going over," said Adelaide, "You three," she pointed at them, "are coming with me."

The Doctor walked over to them. "Yeah, no. I'd love to help, honestly, but I'm leaving. Right now." he attempted to take the suits from Steffi, but Adelaide stopped him and ordered her to lock them up.

"This started as soon as you arrived," she told them sternly, "so you're not going anywhere except with me." she walked out of the central compound and into the hallway. The Doctor looked at Rose and Donna before helplessly following her and they sighed, following him.

Adelaide led them down a long hallway, probably connecting two of the main areas together. "Why was it so important? About Mia's age?"

The Doctor looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but Rose quickly jumped in and answered for him, "It's not. He just opens his mouth and words come out. Does it all the time."

"Oi!"

"She's tellin the truth," Donna mumbled under her breath and the Doctor gave her a death glare.

Rose grabbed his hand and began to walk slower, effectively putting them slightly behind the others. "Alright, spill," she whispered fiercely, "What happens here that is so important as to become one 'a those fixed points you can't interfere with?"

He looked at her, sorrow in his eyes, and she knew. Her hands flew up to her mouth and she looked around her at the people in the expedition. "Today?" he nodded and she whimpered, "There's nothing we could do?" he shook his head and put his arm around her as she closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply.

"Is she all right?" Adelaide asked and Rose became aware that everyone was staring at her. She quickly pulled back and blinked away the tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Yeah," she said softly, "Yeah I'm alright."

Adelaide gave her a suspicious glance but let it slide, turning forward again and continuing her talk of the soil analysis. Donna looked at her questioningly, but the Doctor mouthed one word to her, something Rose couldn't make out, and Donna's eyes widened. She looked at Adelaide and Tarak and mimed something that looked like an explosion. The Doctor nodded sadly and Donna's face fell. She whimpered, her mouth open in shock and sympathy.

"What's that?" Asked the captain, shining her flashlight onto something a few feet ahead of them. "Maggie?"

There, on the ground before them, lay a girl's body, blood trickling from a wound on her head.

"Don't touch her!" the Doctor warned and Tarak snapped at him that he knew the procedure.

"Maggie? Maggie, can you hear me?" The crew members tried in vain to wake her up, deciding to call for the nurse with a full med pack. In just moments, nurse Yuri had come, followed by Ed, who Rose suspected might have been closer to Maggie than was probably allowed. They laid Maggie out on the stretcher they had brought and were ordered to take her back to the med bay and put her in isolation.

They headed on to the bioderm, leaving Yuri and Ed to take care of Maggie. When they were in what Rose thought looked a bit like an elevator, Adelaide got a call on her communicator: "We've identified the sound coming from the bioderm. Voice recognition says it's Andy Stone."

Adelaide took a shaky breath. "Double check please."

Steffi said she would and the line went dead. Once Tarak was satisfied with whatever he was doing on the panel on the wall, they moved forward into what looked like a dark and stuffy greenhouse.

"Andrew? Andrew Stone? It's Captain Brooke," Adelaide called out. She received no answer.

The Doctor walked over a ways and sonic'd a computer monitor, turning on the lights. "There you go."

"What's that device?" Adelaide asked and the Doctor held it up, showing it to her.

"Screwdriver."

"Are you the Doctor or the Janitor?" she asked sarcastically.

The Doctor grinned, looking at Rose. "I dunno, sounds like me. The maintenance man of the universe? What do you think?"

Donna snorted. "Sounds just like you, spaceman."

Adelaide ignored them. "You three stay with me. Tarak, go through external door south. Make sure it's intact" He nodded a "yes ma'am" and left.

"Captain," Said a heavily accented voice through the comm, "It's Maggie – she's back with us."

Adelaide sighed in relief. "What about Andy? We can't find him. Was he alright?"

"I don't know," Maggie's voice said, "I just…"

"If you remember anything, let me know straight away."

"I will call you if there is any change, Captain," Yuri affirmed before hanging up.

They were walking through the bioderm, making awkward stabs at conversation, for maybe ten minutes before Adelaide received a call from Yuri, who was babbling things too fast to be coherent.

"Yuri, calm down," Adelaide commanded, "Tell me what's happened to Maggie."

"The skin is…sort of broken around the mouth. And she's exuding water, like she's drowning."

Adelaide switched the channel on the comm, "Tarak, this area's unsafe. We're going back." There was no answer. "Tarak? TARAK!" She yelled, lowering the comm.

"Where was he?" Rose asked and Adelaide turned and ran the opposite way they had been going, probably to where Tarak had been, followed by the Doctor, Rose, and Donna.

They stopped short near a little open space in the potted trees surrounding them. There, by a small waterway, stood a man holding onto the face of a man kneeling on the floor. Water was pouring from his hands and dripping from his clothes and hair.

The Doctor gripped Rose's hand protectively and shined his sonic toward the pair, slowly moving toward them. "Andy?" he said softly, "Just leave him alone."

Adelaide pulled out a gun, pointing it at the two men. She began to speak as if they were under arrest or something, but the Doctor butted in, saying that he could help them, no problem, until their words blended to become a big jumbly mess.

"SHUT IT!" Donna yelled, and they stopped, looking at her. "Look," she gestured toward the two men. The man standing had released the other's face and the one who had been kneeling was slumped on the ground, water pooling around him.

"You must be Andy," Rose said softly, looking right at the man standing up. He didn't respond, just looked at her, water running out of his gruesome mouth. She took a slow step back. "I think…I think maybe we should go," she mumbled and Adelaide turned and ran. Andy began to run as well.

"Ooh, let's go," the Doctor said, grabbing Donna by the arm and pulling them both after Adelaide. They ran past lots and lots of trees and plants, over a bridge, and past more plants until they reached a door. Adelaide frantically typed in the passcode. "Set the seal to maximum!" The Doctor cried when they had finally gotten it open and they all rushed inside.

The creatures that used to be Andy and Tarak stopped outside the door and stared at them through the small window, attempting to shoot a jet of eater through the glass. Donna jumped back in surprise, but no water came through. When they saw that nothing happened, Andy lowered his arm and stared at them, walking closer.

"Can you confirm that Maggie is contained?" Adelaide asked through the comms and Ed answered with a yes. "Keep her contained and close down all water supplies. Don't consume anything. Do you got that? Everyone, that's an order. Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop."

Donna had been staring at Andy the whole time Adeaide was talking. "Doctor, can they talk?" she received no answer; Andy just kept rubbing his mouth against the window, as if he were trying to eat it.

"Human beings are 60 percent water, which makes them the perfect hosts," The Doctor said, watching Andy with his eyes wide.

"What for?" Adelaide questioned and he shrugged.

"Dunno. Never will. Because we've got to go," he said firmly, tightening his grip on Donna and Rose. "Whatever's started here, we can't see it to the end."

Andy suddenly lunged and slammed his whole body into the door, smiling gruesomely. The creatures began to shoot water at the seals of the door.

"This thing's airtight, yeah?" Rose asked and Adelaide nodded. "So it's got to be watertight?"

Something on the wall sparked and the door shuddered. "Abandon ship!" The Doctor yelled, pushing them all out of the other side and into the main hallway. They began to run, and Rose was glad that she had kept in shape while in Pete's world; she had forgotten how much running came with travelling with the Doctor. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that the creatures had broken through the door and were following them at an alarming speed, gaining ground by the second.

When they finally reached the door, the creatures couldn't have been more than two yards away, still running full speed ahead. Adelaide quickly typed in the passcode and the door swung open. They all poured in and the Doctor slammed the door shut, just in time for the creatures to smack into the metal casing.

"We're safe," Adelaide said, "This door is hermetically sealed; they can't get in."

"Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits…it wears down clifftops, mountains, the whole of the world. Water always wins. Come on." He opened the opposite door and they walked out into another grand corridor.

"Seal off passage 1A. Andrew and Tarak are infected, I repeat, infected," Adelaide said into her comm, "No contact. If they make the slightest move, tell me. I'm going to the medical dome."

"Blimey," Donna said as they started down the impossibly long hallway, "It's a distance. You could do with bikes in this place."

"Every pound of weight equals three tons of fuel!" Adelaide said indignantly and Donna threw her hands up.

"A little fold up bike, s'all I'm saying."

**A/N Don't you absolutely LOVE my new cover? It was made for me by the fantastic Emilie Brown – shoutout to her and her lovely art :)**


	11. Waters of Mars part 2

**A/N I down own BBC or DW**

**Book of the Update: Seeing in the Dark by Timothy Ferris**

Chapter 11

"Doctor, we have to _do_ something!" Rose said, tears running down her face. "I can't just walk away and listen to them die!" but that's exactly what they were doing. They were walking away from the base, safe from the water, listening to the crew scream and weep in terror and hearing their cries as, one by one, they were transformed.

"I can't," The Doctor said in a strangled voice, his eyes looking anywhere but at the small window.

"You can't change anything, but you could still help them!" Donna yelled, "Save someone, remember?"

The Doctor looked at her, his jaw clenched and his eyes full of churning emotions. Through the comms in each of the helmets, which were still on from their chat with Adelaide, they heard the anguished cries as Roman was hit by just one drop of water and forced them to leave him behind. And then as Ed reported that the shuttle had been compromised and that he'd been hit. They listened through the comms as he hit the self-destruct button and they watched the sky light up as it exploded behind them, the blast flinging them into the air and throwing them down onto the Martian rocks. Pieces of the shuttle rained down around them and small fires ignited on the ground.

The Doctor laid there, face down, as he heard them cry from his comm that the hull had been broken and that they were losing air fast. He listened to them scream in panic and he listened to Yuri try and comfort Mia. He listened to the panicking and chaos from inside and he listened to the weeping. And that was the last straw.

"NO!" He yelled, "No more! I am the _last_ of the Time Lords, the laws of time are _**mine**_ to control! I do as I like and I save who I want! Me! Me! Me! For once in my life, ME! I can change the universe; I can _rewrite_ history!"

He slowly stood up and strode toward the base, Rose and Donna scrambling after him. "Doctor!" Rose called after him, "DOCTOR!"

"When I first met 'im," Donna shouted as they ran after him, "It was right after he'd lost you. He almost didn't stop! He needs someone to stop him! Someone to keep 'im in check when he gets like this! That's our job! We need to stop 'im before he goes too far and does something horribly _wrong_!" She yelled at Rose, "Something like this!"

They sped up after the Doctor, who had gotten very far ahead – he was already back inside the base. By the time they reached the door and got themselves in, the Doctor's helmet was thrown onto the floor, what was left of the crew was sealing up the breaches in the hull with some sort of spray foam and the Doctor was yelling some nonsense at Adelaide.

" – they said he will knock four times, and I think I know what that means, and it doesn't mean right here, right now, cause I don't hear anyone knocking, d'you?"

"DOCTOR!" Rose yelled, pointing toward the door, where Andy stood, knocking.

BANG! One.

BANG! Two.

BANG! Three.

"Three knocks is all you're getting!" he said, spinning around to do something on the computer. The door began to spark with electricity and soon, Andy was knocked away and backward, screaming, by sheer electrical power. "Water and electricity; bad mix. Now then, what else have we got?"

"But there's no way to fight them!" Adelaide wailed and the Doctor thought of heat, running back and forth between computers to repair and boost the heating system. "But you said we di-" Adelaide began but was cut off when the complex shook and she was nearly knocked off her feet. "For the future! For the human race!"

"Yes, but there are laws, laws of time. And once upon a time, there were people in charge of those rules but they died. They all _died_! D'ya know who that leaves? ME! Just me! It's taken me all these years to realize: the laws of time are _mine_! Andtheywill_ obey me_!"

"DOCTOR! You need to stop!" Donna cried helplessly, Rose joining in:

"Doctor, look at me! Stop this!"

He froze. And slowly, slowly turned to face her, fire and rage and sorrow building in his eyes. "NO!" He yelled, spitting with some emotion that no human could comprehend. "NO! You can't make me! I don't want to lose _anyone else_, Rose! And now I won't have to! Don't you see?" he cried, begging for her to understand, "This is a good thing – I can change things!"

She stood her ground, facing the rage of the Last Time Lord. "Doctor, it's _wrong_! You know that better than anyone! Some things just can't be changed! The laws were there for a reason; they were meant to be _FOLLOWED_!"

He looked away, not meeting her eyes. "No, Rose. I can't! Not anymore!" and scrambled to the computer again as some alarm sounded. Rose looked at Donna helplessly and Donna flinched, tapping her eye. Rose lifted a hand and touched her own eyes, tilting her head in a question. Donna nodded, looking anywhere except at her eyes.

"Environment controls are down," Adelaide informed everyone and the Doctor looked over at her, grinding his teeth together.

"Not beat yet," he muttered, looking around frantically, "I'll go outside!" he ran over and picked up his helmet, but it was broken. He looked at Rose. "Give me your helmet." She shrugged helplessly and pointed to the ground, where hers had met the same fate as his. He turned to Donna, and her eyes widened.

"No. No, you can't have it. There's nothin' here can be changed, Doctor, you said so yourself! It's _wrong_!"

He growled, violently running his hands through his hair, nearly ripping it out. "FINE! Fine! Still not beat….not beat yet!" he cried, looking around, "Not beat. NOT BEATEN!" He threw the helmet down. "You've got a spacesuit," he pointed at the crew, "in the next section!" and ran off to the next section, only to quickly return at the sight of the water blocking off the exits. "We're not just fighting the flood!" he yelled maniacally, "We're fighting time itself! And I'm gonna WIN!"

"Something is happening to the glacier!" Yuri yelled, looking at the image on the screen.

"Think, think, think, think! What've we got? Not enough oxygen," he ran over and began opening bins. "Protein packs. Useless! Glacier, glacier, glacier, think, think, THINK!" he began to babble incoherently, mumbling a string of completely random words, all running into the next. "AHHHH! Look at the room. Section F. What's in section F?"

"Nothing!" Yuri told him, "It's just storage!"

"Storing what?"

"I don't know! Uh, the robots, the atom clamps-"

"ATOM CLAMPS!" The Doctor yelled, opening up a cupboard, "Who needs atom clamps? I have a funny robot!" he swung the door open fully to reveal Gadget the robot. "ROSE!" he yelled and she ran over.

"Yeah?"

"I need your TARDIS key, give it to me!" she took the chain off from around her neck and placed it in his palm. He put it in Gadget's claw-hand and closed the fingers tightly around it, running over to the table and putting on Roman's control gloves. "Going in!" He said, watching the screen as he carefully maneuvered Gadget through the doorway and out of the complex.

Only Donna noticed Adelaide sigh in defeat and sink into the captain's chair, typing in a command that made the screen flash red alerts. "Oi! What's that your doin'?"

"Come on!" The Doctor yelled, swinging his arms to make the robot move.

"Implementing captain's protocol," said the computer and the Doctor looked up, a warning written on his face.

"Adelaide! What are you doing? If I have to fight you as well, then I will."

"Nuclear device now active and primed," said the computer in an annoyingly cheery voice.

The Doctor looked back at the screen that showed Gadget the robot: "Alright, blast off! FASTER!" He yelled at the screen. Rose walked over to stand behind him and looked at the video showing what Gadget saw at that exact moment. He was headed straight for the TARDIS. She almost laughed.

The complex began to shake and sparks flew from the walls. People fell to the floor all around him, but the Doctor seemed not to notice as he was so intent on the screen, moving his arm just slightly forward and around, miming putting a key into a lock. Gadget the robot did the same, following the commands sent to him by the gloves. "And we're in!" he laughed maniacally at the screen, his tongue flicking in and out as he concentrated.

Rose looked at Adelaide, who was kneeling on the floor, shaking her head at him, and then at Donna, who leaned against the wall for support, tears running down her face. She looked back at the screen and saw Gadget set the TARDIS into motion and watched her dematerialize and then looked to the middle of the room and watched the beloved ship appear to save their lives yet again.

The Doctor ran and flung open the door of his ship, yelling for everyone to get in. Everyone – that is to say, Donna, Yuri, Mia, and Rose ran inside, but Adelaide wouldn't budge. "You're going to save us?"

"Yes, yes, now get in!" He yelled, looking at the clock. It showed 8 seconds.

"But, Suzie? If I live, she'll never become what she was supposed to, like you said!"

"You can inspire her face to face then!" He insisted, "Now, come ON!" 4 seconds.

"You can't know that! I will not be responsible for the entire of the human race going wrong!" and with that, she reached forward and slammed the door shut, shoving the Doctor the rest of the way inside and he heard it click locked. "TWO SECONDS!" She shouted from outside and he distantly heard the TARDIS begin to dematerialize without him. He absently wondered who kept driving his ship, but all he could really do was stare at the blue door, half dumbstruck, half in admiration.

He felt a small, cool hand on his face and looked up into Rose's golden eyes. Golden eyes.

"Rose, your…"

She shushed him. "Shhh, Doctor. It's alright. I'm alright. Stand up, that's it. You need to drive the ship now," she told him gently and he followed her directions like a child.

When the TARDIS rematerialized somewhere in a world of snow and buildings, they all stepped out in silence. Mia stumbled away from the group, walking around the TARDIS once or twice. "W-what is that thing?" she asked, pointing a shaky hand at it. "I-it's b…bigger, I mean….'s bigger on the inside!"

Donna walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her. "It's alright. 'S just a ship."

She pulled away and looked at the three of them in confusion. "Who the hell are you people?" she looked like she was going to cry, and Rose had no idea what to say, nor did anyone else. Mia turned and ran away, turning back to look at them once or twice.

Yuri made as if to run after her, but stopped. "Uh…thank you."

"You take care of her," the Doctor told him and he smiled faintly.

"I will…sir." And he ran off after her.

Suddenly, the Doctor slumped back against the TARDIS. Things were changing in his memory – in history. He recalled a webpage written about the disaster that was Bowie Base One, the first Martian colony. He also recalled new information – things that had not been there when he read the page. A section about its sole survivors – Yuri Kerenski and Mia Bennett. That was new information; it wasn't supposed to be there. He had changed history. He had gone too far.

He looked up when he heard someone gasp and saw Donna standing with her hands over her mouth. "Doctor, it's an Ood," she whispered loudly, pointing behind her hand, like she was trying and failing to be secretive.

He looked beyond her and saw Ood Sigma. "I've gone too far, haven't I?" the Ood just tilted its head to the side, but the Doctor fell to his knees. "Is this it? My death? Is it time?" the Ood vanished, as if blown away by the wind, and the Doctor got to his feet, shaking.

His hands shook as he tried to unlock the TARDIS. He ended up dropping the key onto the snow and he seemed to simply collapse, curling up around his knees on the ground by the key.

Rose bent down and picked up the key, unlocking the ship. She placed an arm around his shoulders and guided him up to his feet and into the TARDIS, letting him fall apart on her shoulder once they were safely inside. She said nothing, just wrapped her arms around him as he wept. She never once said 'I told you so' she never once pushed him away. She knew he needed her, and she let him use her.

After a while, he composed himself and pulled away, sniffing and wiping his face off with the back of his sleeve. "Thank you. Both of you," he added, pulling Donna in for a hug. He released her and ran around the console, starting the dematerialization of the TARDIS while he continued to talk. "Thank you for knowing when to stop me," he paused what he was doing and looked at them. "Even if I didn't listen." He looked right at Rose for the last few words. "And I'm sorry. For everything."

**A/N Okey dokey then. We'll be starting again with The End of Time in the next chapter and I know that that particular episode is sort of…slap-dash and out of place, but I really do love the character development we get for the "modern Doctor Who" Master and I love Matt Smith's Doctor, so as much as I hate to say it, Ten will be regenerating sometime in the next few chapters. I'm so sorry. Feel free to yell at me via review or PM. I would. Especially by review. Even bad reviews are still reviews, so I welcome whatever it is: Constructive criticism, flames, happiness, tears, good reviews, whate'r. **

**ALSO, I've put up a poll in my profile, please go and have a look. It's about what I should do with River later on in the story – if I don't get any feedback from you lot, it'll probably turn out awful!**


	12. End of Time(1) part 1

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW.**

**Book of the Update: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan**

**P.S. This episode is two parts and they're each a little over an hour long so it might take up a few more chapters than normal…whoops.**

Chapter 12: The End of Time

"How about we put this one _here_," Rose said, pointing to a spot on the tree, "And _that_ one there?"

Donna huffed. "I'm puttin' that one here and this one there and that's final."

Rose smiled, loving the stubbornness of her friend. The Doctor had gotten a message calling him to some planet full of Ood, and he said they'd told him to come alone, so after they made him promise not to do anything stupid, he dropped Rose and Donna off at Donna's mum's house to help decorate for Christmas. Which happened to be today, according to the watch Rose had gotten from a market on the Zyriod that told the exact date and time of wherever you were. Handy thing to have while with the Doctor.

Rose still hadn't met the famous Wilf, Donna's granddad, but Ms. Noble said he'd gone out with friends just before they'd gotten there, and he'd soon be back.

"Fine," Rose said finally, throwing her hands up in mock exasperation, ""s not my tree, I don't care!"

The doorbell rang, cutting off whatever Donna had been about to say. "MUM!" She yelled down the hallway, only to receive a response of some muffled words, maybe 'you get it?' Donna seemed to understand, though, because she groaned and stepped down off the stepstool, handing Rose the ornament to place where she would.

She walked out of the room to answer the door, and Rose kept right on with her decorating, but had to put down the ornament and go to the door when she heard Donna's unmistakable laugh drift into the living room. She walked out to see Donna blatantly flirting with the man who had been at the door. She didn't blame her – he was quite attractive, with dark skin and gorgeous eyes.

"Donna," she said, "You gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"Oh, right. Yeah. Well, Rose, this is Sean Temple, Sean, this is Rose Tyler."

"I'm a friend of Wilf's," Sean said by way of explanation, though he didn't look like the rest of Wilf's friends, who were all in the old folk's home – Sean looked about 30. "He told me to try and stop by today, something about last minute decorations?"

Rose noticed that though he was speaking to her, he kept glancing back at Donna. Obvious chemistry between those two. Maybe it was time for her to play matchmaker?

"Yeah, we've been decorating already, haven't we, Donna? But you can help us, if you'd like. You two can do the tree and I'll go hang up the lights outside."

"Alright," Sean said, making his way back into the living room. Rose picked up the bundle of string lights, winked at Donna, and walked by her and out the front door.

DOCTOR WHO

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

There it was again. The noise. Like someone wanted him to hear it, like someone was calling him to them. His eyes widened and he took off to the source of the sound, pebbles scattering in his wake.

CLANG  
CLANG  
CLANG  
CLANG

Again. And again. And again. Over and over. And then it stopped. And the Doctor knew that he was coming to find him. To meet him in the middle. He ran over dirt hills and over concrete and through the shipyard and up a pile of rubbish. And then he saw him. Standing there, maybe 25 meters away. He opened his mouth and roared, a painful, screaming sound. And then he jumped. And the Doctor had no choice but to follow, because that's what he does. He follows and gives away second chances. Again and again and again.

More running. Over the rubbish heap and down the far side and on concrete and over metal support beams lying on the ground. And then he stopped. He laughed, a maniacal, menacing laugh that chilled the Doctor right down to his bones. His face flickered and for a moment, his skull showed through, blue and haunting. His life force was being worn down. Soon it would be gone, and that would be it – no regenerating, no second chances.

"Please, let me help!" the Doctor cried, looking up at him. "You're burning up your own life force!"

He smirked, his skin flashing translucent once more, before he laughed and jumped. The Doctor followed, pushing someone out of his way when they tried to stop him. "Outta my way!" He yelled, climbing up the stack of metal beams to look over, but he was gone.

The Doctor became aware of the babbling behind him and turned, dropping down to the ground.

"…who phoned Nettie, who phoned you," and old woman was explaining to a group of older people. Wild stood among them. "And her sister lives near the house, and she saw the police box. And her neighbor saw this man heading east," she smiled broadly, gesturing to the Doctor.

"Wilfred," he said, slowly advancing toward him, "Have you told them who I am? You promised me."

"No, I just told them you were a doctor, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honor to see you again." He saluted and the Doctor, looking confused, slowly raised his hand in a salute as well.

"Ooh! But you never said he was a _looker_!" said the woman in the red coat. "He's gorgeous! Take a photo," she said, shoving a camera into the hands of a man standing next to her.

"Not bad, eh?" the man mumbled, smiling at the Doctor, showing off his dentures. "Me next."

"I'm Minnie," the woman in the red coat said, waling over to him. "Minnie the Menace. It's a long time since I've had a photo with a handsome man." She wrapped her arm around him and the Doctor looked around him in confusion as the rest of the older people there began to crowd around him.

"Leave him alone!" Wilf cried, but Minnie ignored him.

"Doctor," she said, pinching his cheeks, "Give us a smile." He smiled awkwardly, too dumbstruck too do anything else. "That's it."

"Hold on," said the man, "Did it flash?"

"No, there's a blue light," Minnie explained. "Try again."

"I-I'm really kinda busy, ya'know," the Doctor said once he'd regained the ability to speak.

"Oh, it won't take a tick," Minnie promised, wrapping her arm around him again. Her hand dropped a bit too low for his comfort and he jumped.

"Is that your _hand_, Minnie!"

She smiled at him and patted his bum. "Good boy."

DOCTOR WHO

"Donna!" Rose called, but there was no answer.

She carefully placed the bundle of lights on the ladder, trying not to pull down the ones already up, and walked inside, shutting the front door quietly behind her. She walked back into the living room and saw Donna standing on a chair to put the angle on the tree, Sean standing behind her with his hands on her hips to steady her, though she probably could've managed by herself.

"Hello, Rose," Sean quipped cheerfully, helping Donna down once she had finally managed to get the star on the treetop.

Rose smirked, looking at Donna, who gave a little smile and shrugged innocently. "I was just goin' to ask, where did you want the rainbow lights? I put all the white ones on the front, but what 'bout the others?"

Donna waved her hand, "Oh, wherever's fine. 'Round the bottom of the trees, maybe?"

"Yeah okay. I'll do that." She walked out of the living room, only to pop her head back in, "And don't have too much fun in here," she warned jokingly, "Wilf could be home any minute." She winked at Donna, who was blushing furiously and pulled her head back, walking down the hallway and out the front door again, picking up the bundle of multi-colored lights and heading over to the trees in the front yard, wondering idly if she'd need an extension cord.

DOCTOR WHO

There he was. Again. His hands crackled with electric energy, and he raised his fists to his chest and threw the energy, blasting a hole in the wall beside the Doctor, who didn't even blink. Another blast. The entire part of the building behind him erupted into flames, but the Doctor did not once flinch or look back.

He began to rub his hands together, making the electric energy grow and spark off of his fingers.

The Doctor kept slowly advancing toward him, unwavering even when he blasted his energy right into the Doctor's chest. The Doctor grit his teeth and shuddered as the energy coursed through his body. It finally stopped and the Doctor fell to the ground.

He rushed over, catching the Doctor before he fell. The Doctor looked at him. Looked at the malice in his eyes, masking an insane sort of sadness and an ancient bond, stronger than brotherhood. He dropped the Doctor and stood up, watching the Doctor as he fell to the floor, gasping.

He squatted down next to the Doctor. "I had estates," he said with a dangerous calm in his voice. "Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition," he sighed, reminiscing. "We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky." He sat down on the pile of rubble. "Look at us now."

"All that eloquence," the Doctor said, "But how many people have you killed?"

He raised his eyes. "I am so hungry." It wasn't an excuse. Just a statement. A fact.

"Your resurrection went wrong. That energy…your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself."

"And that's human Christmas out there," he said spitefully, "They eat so much! All that roasting meat, cakes, and red wine. Hot, fat, blood food. Pots, plates of meat and flesh and grease and juice. And baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot! It's so hot!"

"Stop it," The Doctor growled, having had enough of the madman's rant.

"Slice-"

"Stop it!"

"It's mine. It's mine. It's mine! IT'S MINE! Eat it! Eat it, eat it, eat it!"

"Stop it!" he finally did and they both just looked at each other, breathing heavily. "What if I asked you for help?" the Doctor asked finally, causing him to snicker incredulously. "There's more at work tonight than you and me."

"Oh yeah?" he asked nonchalantly, leaning back onto the rubbish heap behind him.

"I've been told something is returning."

"And here I am."

"No," the Doctor objected, "Something more."

"But it hurts," he moaned, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and pulling.

"I was told the end of time…"

"It hurts…Doctor, the noise. The noise in my head, Doctor. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four," he said maniacally, pounding his fists against him skull to mimic the pattern. "Stronger than ever before. Can't you hear it?" he asked, almost desperately, "Listen, listen, listen, listen."

But the Doctor heard nothing.

"Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts…there it is, calling to me. Please listen," he begged pathetically, so close to the dirt he was almost laying down.

"I'm sorry," The Doctor told him, "I can't hear it."

His eyes went wild and his lip began to twitch. "Listen," he growled, grabbing the Doctor's face and pressing their foreheads together.

And the Doctor heard it. The never-ending tapping that went on inside the head of his childhood friend, forcing him into madness, every minute, every second.

The Doctor jerked back, mere seconds being too much for him to bear. "I heard it."

He gasped, looking relieved and astonished all at once.

"But there's no noise," the Doctor continued, "There never has been, it's just your insanity."

He stood up, holding his head and looking around at the world, his mouth forming soundless words of relief. "It's real," he mumbled, "It's real!" He laughed deliriously and the Doctor stood up and stepped away from him.

"What is it? What's inside your head?"

"IT'S REAL!" He bellowed for the whole world to hear. He lowered his hands and jumped once more, flying impossibly high into the sky and leaving a trail of greyish-blue energy floating down behind him.

The Doctor began to run again, still gasping from his encounter with the energy. He ran, following the trail and the sound of maniacal laugher drifting through the sky. He skidded to an abrupt stop when he saw him standing there, on a mound of dirt and rubble.

"All these years, you thought I was mad!" he shouted, half taunting, half gloating, "King of the wasteland! But something is calling me, Doctor. What is it? What is it? What is it?"

A bright light shone down from the sky, illuminating only the man standing on the hill, screaming into the night. He looked up, opening his arms to embrace whatever was coming down. Another light appeared, shining onto the Doctor himself.

Ropes came down from the helicopter in the sky, followed by people in all black. They grabbed him and shot a syringe into his neck.

"No, DON'T!" The Doctor yelled, watching helplessly as his best friend – or worst enemy, depending on how you look at it – was taken up and away.

The Doctor ran to him, trying to stop whatever was happening, but the sound of machine guns smacked him in the face and he stopped as, just as the Doctor had reached the hill where he had stood, a bullet shot through his chest, forcing him to the ground.

He lay there, motionless, as the helicopter flew away, carrying with it the only other creature the same as him. Carrying with it the Master.

DOCTOR WHO

Rose had hung nearly all of the outside lights when she got a searing pain in her head and stumbled back off the ladder, pressing her palms to her eyes, trying to stop the white-hot pain behind her eyelids.

It lessened enough that she could think clearly, and in the midst of the chaos within her brain, she heard – or rather, felt – something. A message. She ran inside on unsteady legs, knocking things over left and right as she blindly groped for the door handle and swung open the front door, rushing inside and skittering to a stop in the living room.

"Rose! Rose, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Donna shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"'S the TARDIS," Rose gasped out, trying to push down the pain enough to get her brain working correctly again. "Something's happened. She-she doesn't like it. Bad, bad, bad, very bad," she said, all in an overlapping rush.

"Calm down! What's happened?"

Rose shook her head, pressing her hands to her eyes again. "I dunno. But 's the TARDIS, something bad…the Doctor, we've got to get to the Doctor and help 'im! Bad, bad."

"Where is he? Do you know where the Doctor is? Where the TARDIS is?" Rose shook her head madly, the pain behind her eyes becoming worse and worse.

"Bad, bad, bad, bad!" She cried, becoming less and less articulate as her mind was overwhelmed. "He's hurt, he's hurt….bad, bad, bad, bad….wolf! Bad wolf!" She exclaimed, just before she crumpled to the ground, a motionless ball of limbs and hair, sprawled on the carpet.

**A/N So…..there's the beginning of End of Time! This episode, since it's so long and 2 parts, takes up like 4 chapters oops. Tell me what you think, please; let's see if we can make it to 100 reviews maybe? Happy Thanksgiving!**


	13. End of Time(1) part 2

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW.**

**Book of the Update: Falling Up by Gordon and Williams**

Chapter 13

"Rose?" she woke up to someone shaking her shoulders. "Rose?"

She slowly sat up, pressing her palms to her eyelids. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled unconvincingly. She put down her hands and blinked open her eyes, ignoring the dull pain that was still in the back of her mind. Donna raised an eyebrow. "No, really, I'm fine, look," she showed her her arms and legs and blinked her eyes a few times. "Right as rain."

"Well, alright…..what happened, though? What was wrong?"

Rose looked at her. "Nothing. 's just….I dunno, but it's gone now," she lied smoothly, feeling a twinge of guilt for doing that to her friend.

Luckily, the front door opened just then, cutting their conversation short. "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" Wilf said, coming into the living room with a little dance. "Donna!" He cried when he saw her, rushing over and sweeping her into his arms.

"Hey, Gramps," she said, returning the hug.

He let her go after a moment. "I've just seen the Doctor – you'll never believe it, Donna, but Minnie-"

"Oooh no, I don't wanna hear about whatever Minnie's done this time," Donna exclaimed and then she grabbed Rose's wrist, hauling her up off the floor. "Gramps, this is Rose. The Doctor's girlfriend," she added to him in a stage whisper and Rose turned beet red.

"I'm not…I mean, it's…" she stuttered, at a loss for words. Wilf just laughed and held out a hand, saying it was good to meet her.

Sylvia, Donna's mum, called them all into the kitchen to open presents, now that Wilf was back, and Rose sort of stood off to the side as the family exchanged gifts with each other. Donna had made the Doctor take them to earth, her time, to pick up Christmas presents for her family, so she was prepared.

While they were all laughing and joking together and being exactly the type of family Rose had given up when she left the parallel world, she quietly slipped out the kitchen and through the hall and out the side door.

She'd made it halfway out of the neighborhood when a whooshing sound came from behind her and she stopped, looking over her shoulder as the TARDIS materialized. She ran and grabbed him when he came out of the ship, holding him as tightly as she could. "What happened?"

"Rose-? What?"

"Something was wrong," she said, looking up at him, but not releasing his waist, "Something was very wrong and I _felt_ it. What happened?"

"Someone – a Time Lord called the Master – got away. I'll explain the rest later, but I was unconscious. He's still on earth, though. I can smell him. But he's too far away. What do you mean, you felt it?"

"The Master? Who was he?" she asked, avoiding his question.

"He was….agh, he was my best friend, closer than brothers, we were. But he went mad. He's awful and he's dying, but he's still my friend, sort of, and he's the only other Time Lord in the universe. I have to find him, Rose. The Ood told me, they said something was coming. It wasn't him, no, but he's involved. He's always involved. And, oh, and Wilf!" he cried, pulling his arms off of Rose and gesturing behind her.

She released him and turned. Sure enough, there was Wilf. "Wilf! Yeah, you're involved…..if I could just work out how. Have you seen anything strange? Out of place? Anything?"

He stuttered for a moment, "Well….uhm, there was…"

"What is it? Tell me!"

"Nah, nah it's nothing," he said, looking at the ground. Rose felt that it was a very big something, but perhaps something that the Doctor shouldn't know about. Not yet anyway.

"Think, think, think! Maybe something out of the blue?" he pushed and Wilf blinked rapidly, thinking.

"Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment this morning, all because of that book."

"The book she got you for Christmas?" Rose asked in surprise and he nodded.

"Book? What book?" The Doctor asked and Wilf pulled it out of his pocket to show him. "That's the man, the Ood showed me him," he said, pointing to the picture of Jonathan Naismith on the cover of the book.

"What're the Ood?"

"They're just the Ood," he replied dismissively, "But it's all part of the convergence maybe…maybe touching Donna's mind? While she was out shopping?"

"I went with her when she bought that book," Rose piped up, "Seemed a bit odd, she picked it up the minute we walked into the store, but I figured it was just something she knew you would like."

"Okay, so this book. This man, Jonathan Naismith. Right," the Doctor said, taking the book from Wilf and marching back towards the TARDIS, Rose and Wilf on his heels.

"What about Donna? Won't she want to come?" Rose asked, but Wilf laughed.

"She seemed a bit busy getting to know my young friend Sean," he said, humor in his voice.

The Doctor was already inside the ship and was hopping around the console, babbling about Jonathan Naismith.

Rose walked inside, followed by Wilf, who gasped and looked around him, dumbstruck.

"Oh, forgot to mention," the Doctor called, "Bigger on the inside. D'you like it?"

Wilf gaped. "I-I thought it'd be cleaner," he finally got out and Rose covered her mouth to hide the laughter.

"Cleaner?" The Doctor cried indignantly, "You know I could take you back home right now, mister."

"Listen, Doctor, if this is a time machine, why couldn't you just hop back to yesterday and catch him?"

"I can't go back inside my own timeline; I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal matrix. Understand?"

"Not a word."

The Doctor just grinned and hopped around, setting the TARDIS up for dematerialization, not even bothering to explain.

"It doesn't work like that," Rose said, "It uhh…causes paradoxes, really bad things to happen. It's complicated," she said, trying to explain to Wilf, who still looked as though he didn't understand.

"Thank you. I think."

She grinned. "Welcome aboard, Wilf."

DOCTOR WHO

"It doesn't just mend one person at a time; that would be ridiculous. It mends whole planets."

"It does _what_?" Rose asked in shock, not sure if she had heard right.

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population," she said in exasperation as if she were talking to toddlers.

Rose locked eyes with the Doctor. "Nanogenes?" she asked, referring to an incident years ago with World War II and a little boy with a gas mask, rewriting all of human DNA.

"Nanogenes," the Doctor breathed, running off down the corridor, Rose right on his heels.

"Thought you said this Master guy was your best mate?" she asked, and he looked at her with wild eyes.

"I also said he'd gone mad!" he sped up and careened around a corner, nearly smashing himself into the wall, but turning at the last possible second. Rose, not having Time Lord reflexes, had to grab the wall to stop herself, and was a bit behind the Doctor. He was already inside the office and yelling at everybody to turn off the gate by the time she got there.

"No, no, no, no, whatever you do, just don't let him near that device!"

"Oh, like that was ever gonna happen," a man in a straightjacket, Rose assumed he was the Master, said with a smirk before he threw his head back and a white-hot energy blasted from him, forcing the straightjacket off of his body and into a remote corner of the room.

He blasted himself into the air, grinning madly, and landed right in the center of the glowing medical gate. "Homeless, was I?" He asked, looking right at the Doctor, "Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now!" he raised his arms and laughed maniacally.

"Deactivate it!" Rose yelled, "Turn the whole thing off!"

The black man in the suit shook his head, blinking his eyes. "He's…inside my head."

Looking around, everyone else in the room seemed to be having the same problem. The Doctor ran over to the gate. "Get out of there!" but he was blasted out of the way by a red stream of energy coming from the Master's hand.

"Doctor!" Wilf called, just now reaching the room, "Doctor, there's this face…"

"What is it, Wilf? What do you see?"

"Well, I can see him!" he pointed to the Master.

"Something's wrong," said the woman on the television, "It seems to be affecting the President…"

The Doctor ran to the computer, pressing buttons frantically. "I can't turn it off!"

"That's because I locked it," the Master informed him, "Idiot."

"WILFRED!" The Doctor yelled, taking him by the hand and pushing him into the radiation chamber. "Get inside, get him out." He pushed the button to free the man and got in the chamber himself, yanking Rose inside with him. It was a tight squeeze, but they both fit. "Now, I just need to filter the levels…"

"Oh!" Wilf cried from the other half of the chamber, "I can see again!"

Rose looked at the Doctor in awe. "Radiation shielding, of course!"

"How do you know what radiation shielding is?" he asked in confusion and she grinned at him, her tongue in between her teeth.

"Got my A-levels in the parallel universe."

"Oh, brilliant! That's great, Rose!" he squeezed her fingers and she knew he was proud of her, even though it seemed like such a trivial thing compared to his wealth of knowledge. He looked to Wilf, "Press the button to let us out."

"What?" Wilf seemed confused, but pressed the button anyway. The Doctor ran out of the chamber, followed closely by Rose, who hadn't been affected by the Master's mind, for whatever reason.

"Fifty seconds and counting," the Master announced.

"Till what?"

"Oh, you're gonna love this," he said, answering the Doctor's question.

Rose heard a phone ring and looked over her shoulder. It was Wilf, and he looked very concerned. "It's Donna! She's turnin into something! Says she keeps seein 'is face in her head!" he received another call. "It's everybody! Everyone in Winston's whole neighborhood!"

"What is it?" Rose asked, looking up at the Master, "Hypnotism? Mind control? You're puttin' your thoughts into their heads, yeah?"

"Oh, no," he laughed, "Too easy. They're not gonna _think_ like me. They're gonna _become_ me." he raised his arms, the purple glow around the gate strengthening. "Aaaaand begin!"

He laughed and Rose looked around. Everyone, except for the Doctor and Wilf, were shaking their heads violently, and their faces were flickering between the Master's and their own. "Doctor? What's happening?" he spun around, teeth grit together, looking around at everyone.

"NO! You can't have!"

The heads stopped shaking, and Rose let out a horrified gasp when she saw what had happened. Everyone in the room besides the Doctor, Wilf, and herself, had changed. They weren't themselves anymore…they were all the Master, just in different clothes, but…all the same.

"The human race was always your favorite, Doctor," said the Master, the real one, stepping down from the gate. "But now, there is no human race. There is only the Master race!" he held his arms wide to show, and all of the Masters surrounding him, even the one who used to be the American woman on the news station on the television, echoed him, saying in unison, "the Master race"

And then he began to laugh. And everywhere, across the globe, everyone began to laugh. The Doctor stared in horror as it echoed around him, in the room, through the walls, coming in through the windows…laughter. Laughing. Always laughing.


	14. End of Time(2) part 1

**A/N I don't own BBC**

**Book of the Update: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame**

Chapter 14: The End of Time (Part 2)

"Now then," the Master said into the Doctor's ear, "I've got a planet to run," and with that he walked over to the screen on the far wall to communicate with his other selves in leadership positions all across the globe, leaving the Doctor strapped into a big…._thing_, Rose didn't quite know what it was, but it was covered in straps and there was one tied across his mouth as well. She and Wilf were nearby, tied to office chairs.

Rose locked eyes with the Doctor and he seemed to be staring a hole right through her soul. She wondered idly if she had done something wrong.

"Well, Doctor? Nothing to say?" the Master asked, and the Doctor broke his gaze to look at him. "What's that? Pardon? Sorry?" he asked mockingly, leaning his ear closer to the Doctor's bound mouth.

"You let him go, you swine!" Wilf cried but the Master only laughed.

"Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss."

"Yeah, well I'd be proud if I was," Wilf said back and Rose couldn't help but smile. The Master hushed him and Wilf's face fell, as if he still couldn't quite believe that this insane man had so much power in the world.

"And what about your little pet, eh, Doctor?" The Master asked, coming to stand by Rose. "What did you tell this one to make her so obedient?" he crooner, stroking her hair. She glared at him, but said nothing. The Doctor made a noise behind the bonds over his mouth, wriggling about, a furious panic in his eyes. "Oh, you don't like that. He doesn't like that," he told Rose confidentially. "You must be _special_." He released her hair and looked up at the Doctor. "So where'd you find her? Was she another stray dog from some alien planet about to explode? Are you a Drahvin? Peladonian? A Trion, perhaps?"

"I'm human, _actually_," she spat venomously.

He jerked back. "What? Why didn't she change?" he growled, swooping over to the Doctor. He was mere centimeters from his face. "Who is she?" he yanked the bonds off of the Doctor's mouth and he opened and closed it a few times, flicking his tongue out.

"That's better. Hello."

"What is she?" he growled and the Doctor grinned, laughing.

"I haven't got a clue," he said truthfully, still laughing.

The Master roared and overturned a small table. Rose raised her eyebrows. "There was no need to do that," she said reproachfully and he glared at her before going back to his place by the Doctor.

"Tell me," he muttered, "Where's your TARDIS?"

"You could be so wonderful."

"Where is it?"

"You're a genius. You're stone-cold brilliant. I swear, you really are." The Master tilted his head as if in agreement with the Doctor, who continued, "But you could be so much more. With a mind like that, _we_ could travel the stars. It would be my honor. 'cause you don't need to _own_ the universe, just _see_ it." The Master was actually listening now, and Rose's heart went out to both of them. How much could it hurt, to see the person who was closer than a brother to you gone mad. Or to see them fighting so hard to stop whatever you were trying to do? That had to be painful. "To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space…that's ownership enough."

They were silent for a few moments until the Master finally spoke, his voice choked and teary, "Would it stop then? The noise in my head?"

"I can help," the Doctor told him, but the Master shook his head.

"I don't know what I'd be without that noise.

The Doctor mumbled something, too quiet for anyone to hear but the Master, who sniffed and replied with a "yeah."

"What does he mean?" Wilf asked loudly, and Rose shook her head at him, trying to tell him stop. He ignored her. "What noise?"

The Master turned, glaring at Wilf. "It began on Gallifrey as children. Not that you'd call it childhood. More a life of duty," he spat, sitting down on a chair between Rose and Wilf, facing the Doctor. "Eight years old. I as taken for iniation, to stare into the Untempered Schism."

"What does that mean?" Wilf asked, and the Doctor replied,

"It's a gap in the fabric of realty. You can see into the Time Vortex itself. And it hurts." He looked at Rose as he said the last part and she had to blink back tears at the sound of raw pain in his voice, even after all these years.

"They took me there," the Master continued, "In the dark. I looked into _time_, old man, and I heard it. Calling to me. drums, the never-ending drums." He had closed his eyes now. "Listen to it. Listen."

"Let's find it, you and me," the Doctor offered, but the Master seemed not to hear.

"Except…Oh! Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes! Oh, that's good!"

"What? What is it?" Rose asked, not being able to stop herself.

He spun around on his heel to look at her. "The noise exists within my head and now within six billion heads! Everyone on earth can hear it. Oh, imagine! Oh, yes!" he started to laugh again, his madness returning full speed after those few moments of sanity. His face flickered between his skin and his skull as he laughed, but he seemed not to notice. The Doctor, however, did. And he frowned.

"The gate wasn't enough," he said sadly, "You're still dying."

The Master huffed, curled up on the floor, "This body was born out of death. All it can do is die." He stood up. "But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said the end of time."

"I said something is returning. I was shown a prophecy. That's why I need your help."

"What if I'm part of it?" the Master cried, but the Doctor shook his head. "Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away, from the end of time itself! And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate those signals, and I could find its source! Look, Doctor. That's what your prophecy was…me!" he spread his arms wide to show himself off, and then, in a flash, his hand came down and smacked the Doctor across his face.

"Don't touch him!" Rose cried, but he ignored her.

"Where's the TARDIS?"

"Just stop," the Doctor said, almost begging, "Just think."

"Kill him," The Master said, gesturing behind him at Wilf. A soldier all in black with a helmet walked over, pointing a gun directly at his head, and Rose thought that something seemed a bit off about it. "I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is or the old man is dead."

"Don't tell him!" Wilf cried, and Rose felt a surge of pride for the man.

"I'll kill him right now!" the Master roared, walking back to stand by Wilf and the soldier. Now that they were side by side, Rose could see that the soldier was taller than the Master. Not by much, but too much for them to be identical people. Someone else was in the soldier's armor and helmet. Someone on their side. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Actually," The Doctor said, "The most impressive thing about you is that, after all this time, you're still bone-dead stupid."

The Master rolled his head and cracked his neck. "Take aim."

"You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?"

"Like what?"

"That guard is too tall!" Rose blurted out, done with all the chit-chat.

The Master turned around to look, only to be hit in the face with the blunt end of the gun and fall to the floor, most likely unconscious. The guard took off his helmet to reveal the spiky green man who had been posing as a scientist earlier. "Oh my god, I hit him. I've never hit anyone in my life!"

"Well come on!" Said the other green alien, the oman, bursting through the doors, "We've got to get out of here, quick!" she ran over and used some sort of pocket knife to cut Wilf's bonds loose, and then Rose's. The man ran over to the Doctor and tried in vain to unclip all of the straps and things. "Come on, we've got to get out!"

"There's too many buckles and straps!"

"Just wheel him!"

The Doctor's eyes widened, "No, no, no, no! Get me out! No, no, don't! No!" he protested as the man began to wheel him out of the room. "No, no, no, the other way! No, I've got my TARDIS!" he cried when they started down the wrong way, but the woman cactus would hear nothing of it.

"I know what I'm doing!"

"Listen to him!" Rose yelled, but of course they didn't. and then they proceeded to try and wheel him down the stairs, which, as you can imagine, caused quite the uncomfortable journey for the Doctor, who was yelling and screaming the whole way down.

"Worst rescue ever!" he yelled when they had finally gotten down the stairs. Rose didn't even try to correct him for being rude. He was right.

They wheeled him into some basement room with not much in it, and he kept yelling for them to stop and listen, and Rose joined him, saying they should use the TARDIS, but no, apparently the cacti were very stubborn. Soon enough, they were surrounded by soldiers in black suits, and Rose noticed that they were all exactly the same height, so no chance of a rescue mission for the rescue mission anytime soon.

"Got you," said one of the Masters, and the woman cactus smiled.

"You think so?" and pressed the button on her watch/transport, ignoring the Doctor's cries to stop.

They reappeared in a ship, probably hovering somewhere above the earth. "Get me out of this thing!" The Doctor cried, and the woman put her hands on her hips.

"Not even going to thank us?"

"He's not going to let us go! Just hurry up and get me out!" Rose took pity on him and began to work on the many buckles and straps, soon aided by the two cacti.

"Oh my goodness me," Wilf said, astonished, "We're in space!"

"Yeah," Rose confirmed, "Yeah we are."

"Hurry up!" The Doctor screamed and jumped up before he was completely free, causing the bard to crash to the floor. He ignored it and ran over to the controls, sonic'ing them until something exploded and sparks flew everywhere. "Where's your flight deck?"

"But we're safe!" the woman protested, "We're 100,000 miles above the earth!"

"And he's got every single missile o the planet, ready to fire!" Rose cried and the woman gaped for a moment.

"Good point," and she ran off, the Doctor hot on her heels. Rose looked over, grabbed Wilf and followed them, nodding and agreeing as he went through the shock of being in space.

Wilf, who ran a bit slower in his old age, made them enter the flight deck a bit late, but just in time to see the Doctor point his sonic at the flight controls and watch them explode as well.

The ship went dead. Entirely silent and still. No one on earth could detect them, but they couldn't move or go anywhere either. They were stuck.

**A/N Please go and vote on the poll on my page; it's really important to the story!**


	15. End of TIme(2) part 2

A/N I don't own BBC or DW

Book of the Update: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Chapter 15

"Aye aye, got this old tub mended?" Wilf asked, walking into the room where Rose and the Doctor sat.

He wrinkled his nose and looked up, glasses sliding down a bit. "Just trying to fix the heating."

Wilf sat down on the other side of the Doctor, sighing as he looked out of the window. "Y'know, I've always dreamt of a view like that," he said quietly and Rose looked up to see for herself. It was beautiful. Out the window, the earth could be seen, all green and blue and white. It had sort of a glow around it – probably from the reflection of the sun's light – and swirls of white clouds danced across the surface, looking more like moving paint than anything else.

Wilf chuckled, slapping his things, "I'm an astronaut! There's dawn," he pointed, "Over England, look. Brand new day. My wife's buried down there." His face grew sad as he contemplated that and Rose longed to reach over and hug him, but didn't want to intrude on his private moment. "And now, I might never visit her again. Do you think he changed them, in their graves?" he asked, turning to look at the Doctor, who slowly lowered the piece of metal and wires he was fiddling with.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"No. Not your fault," Wilf denied, but the Doctor would have none of it.

"Isn't it?"

"Oh, 1948, I was over there. End of the mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. A skinny little idiot I was. Stood on this rooftop in the middle of a skirmish. Like a blizzard, all them bullets in the sky. The world had gone mad." He laughed a bit, rubbing his head. "Eh, sorry. You don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?"

The Doctor took of his specs and crossed his arms over his knees. "I'm older than you," he said quietly and Wilf smirked.

"Get away."

"I'm nine hundred and six," he told him and Wilf looked astonished.

"What, really though?"

"Yeah."

"Nine hundred years? We must look like insects to you."

The Doctor shook his head slightly, frowning. "No," he said, "I think you look like giants."

Wilf reached into his pocket and pulled something out. A handgun. "Listen….I….I want you to have this," he said, offering it to the Doctor. "I've kept it all this time and I thought-"

"No."

"No, but if you take it, if you could-"

"No." they were silent for a moment, and Rose slowly stood up as the Doctor began to speak again. She sensed this was more of a father figure – son conversation, so she walked a ways away to the other side of the room and sat there, fiddling with the case on her mobile. It was broken – again – the Doctor never seemed to be able to borrow it and bring it back in one piece. That was alright though. S'not like she had anyone to call.

"…You take this, Doctor, and save your life! You're the most wonderful man, and I don't want you to die!" Wilf said loudly, loud enough that Rose could hear, from across the room. And she heard the Doctor's response as well, though it was quiet.

"Never."

"_A star fell from the sky_," came a voice over some sort of intercom system in the ship. Rose looked up. "_Don't you want to know where it came from? Because now it makes sense, Doctor. The whole of my life, my destiny…the star was a diamond. And a diamond is a white-point star." _The Doctor stood up, taking heavy, frantic breaths as the Master continued, "_And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor….this should be spectacular. Over and out."_

Rose stood up and ran to the Doctor as soon as the intercom shut off. "Doctro, what's a white-point star?" she asked, at the same time Wilf said,

"What's he gone on about? What's that mean?"

The Doctor looked at them, some unknown emotion tattooed across his face. He was shaking and his eyes were red and panicked. "A white-point star is only found on one planet. Gallifrey." Rose's eyes widened as he continued, "Which means it's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning."

"Well, that's good, innit? I mean, that's your people," Wilf said, not understanding. The Doctor said nothing, but his hand lunged forward and he grabbed the gun off of Wilf's lap, staring at it for a moment, his jaw set. Then he stood up and walked swiftly out of the room, tucking the gun into his jacket as he did so.

Wilf looked at Rose. "I…I don't understand. Wouldn't he want them to come back? If they're his own people?"

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, unsure what exactly to say. "He would, yeah, but not…not like they were during the Time War. He don't talk about it much, but…from what he's told me, I figure the Time Lords changed during the war. Changed for the worse. Judging by his reaction, I'd say a lot worse."

"Oh. Oh my."

She helped him to his feet and they ran out of the room and onto the flight deck, where the Doctor and the cacti (Rose still hadn't managed to catch their names) were standing, frozen, as they listened to the noise coming through the intercom.

Beep beep beep beep.

Beep beep beep beep.

Beep beep beep beep.

"What's that?" asked the woman, and the man looked at some sort of scanner.

"Coming from earth," he said, "It's on every single wavelength."

Rose looked at the Doctor. His teeth were grit and his whole body was shaking again. His eyes were mad and he looked as though he would snap any moment. She stepped forward and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. He didn't look at her, but he squeezed her hand back and had stopped shaking, so she seemed to have helped him, just by being there. He pulled away a moment later, however, to grab a metal….thing and begin to work on it with the sonic.

"But you said your people were dead," Wilf said, ignoring Rose's face telling him to stop. "Past tense."

"Inside the Time War, when the whole was time-locked, like sealed inside a bubble. It's not a bubble, but just think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or out of the time-lock. Don't you see? Nothing can get in or get out, except something that was already there," he explained. The whole time he was talking, he had been fiddling with the metal thing and various other bits of the ship. He was now seated in the captain's chair and looking over the controls, sonic in hand.

"The signal!" Rose cried, "Of course! Since he was a little kid!"

"If they can follow the signal, they can escape before they die."

"Well, big reunion, eh? We'll have a party!" Wilf cried, and Rose glared at him, seeing the visible pain this was putting her Doctor through.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, and the Doctor looked at her, pain etched into the lines in his skin. "I'm so sorry, Doctor."

"I choose to remember them the way they were, the Time Lords of old. But the war, the endless war, changed them, right to the core. You've both seen my enemies. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them."

"Time Lords? What lords? Anyone care to explain?!" the cactus woman cried in confusion, but everyone ignored her.

"Righ, yes, you," the Doctor said, pushing his emotions aside, "This is a salvage ship, yes? You were travelling the asteroid fields for junk!"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"So you've got asteroid lasers!" he cried victoriously, throwing his hands into the air and spinning around.

"Yeah, well they're all frazzled now," the man pointed out and the Doctor laughed.

"HA! Consider them unfrazzled. Now, you there, I'm gonna need you on navigation. And you, get in the laser pod. Wilfred!"

"Yeah?"

"Laser number two. This old soldier's got one more battle."

"This ship can't move; it's dead," the woman said pessimistically and Rose snapped.

"Can't you be positive for once in your life? Maybe he's got it worked out, huh?" she asked snidely, hands on her hips. The woman looked abashed, and rightfully so, when the Doctor snapped and pointed to Rose.

"Bingo! I fixed the heating," he pulled up a large switch, "I fixed the ship."

"But now they can see us!" The woman cried, being negative again.

"Yeah, they can!" Rose yelled, right in the woman's face. "And that's bloody _fantastic_, you know that?"

The Doctor grinned madly and took hold of the steering equipment. "Allons-y!" he cried, pulling the controls back, making the whole ship lurch forward, sending some of them crash to the floor. "Come on," the Doctor growled, the ship shaking as it got faster and faster. A golden light enveloped the whole place, streaming in through every window and porthole, so bright that Rose had to squint and look away. Fire. The ship was going so fast it had caught fire in the earth's atmosphere. "Come on," he said again, still pulling up on the controls.

"You are freaking, flipping mad!" cried the woman, pointing a finger at him.

Rose grinned. "I think he's brilliant!"

He smiled at her, not taking his eyes off of the window. "You two, do what I say! Lasers!"

"What for?" the man asked, yelling.

"Because of the missiles!" Rose yelled, "Obviously!"

"We're fighting off the entire planet right now!" The Doctor yelled, all his concentration on steering the ship.

Something beeped on the scanner and Rose looked down. "Incoming on the right! You two open fire!" They didn't, and the Doctor swung the ship around madly trying to avoid the missiles. "OPEN FIRE!" She yelled again as something exploded on the right side, making the ship list to the left a bit as she flew, and this time, they listened, opening fire on the remaining missiles headed for them.

"Woo!" Wilf cried in elation when he shot them down, "Oh, I wish Donna could see me now!"

"Don't worry, we'll tell her all about it!" Rose yelled back, laughing. She kept an eye on the scanner, and soon enough, more red blips appeared on the screen, not sixty yards from them. "There's a second round!" She counted them quickly, "Sixteen of them!" more red blips. "And another sixteen!"

"You, go to the rearguard lasers!" The Doctor yelled at the cactus woman and she rushed off toward the back of the ship, where Rose remembered there had been another laser, bigger than the others. He spun the controls and the ship swung around and Rose grabbed onto the back of the unused captain's chair behind the Doctor, trying not to fall to the ceiling now that the ship had gone upside down.

A single missile escaped the lasers and came straight toward the big window, smashing through the glass, but turning aside just at the right moment to not come in and kill them all. Rose gasped as she felt the pull of the wind outside, and the skin on her face began to ripple with the force of it. If she opened her mouth, her lips probably would've blown open like in a cartoon.

The Doctor hunched down, leaving his hands on the controls, higher than his body. "ROSE?" He shouted and she hunched down as well, following his lead.

"I'm here, Doctor!"

"Lock on navigation! England, the Naismith Mansion!" she heaved herself up against the wind, her lips flapping just as she imagined they would and lunged for the navigation controls, grabbing onto them and pulling herself across the short distance, barely keeping on her feet. She managed to get over to the computer and lock onto Naismith Mansion, England. "Destination?!" he asked, yelling against the roaring noise of the wind.

"Fifty klicks and closing!" she replied, also yelling. Klicks was the measurement used on the ship. Seemed to be about half a kilometer. "We've locked onto the house. Are we stopping?" though she didn't think they would be.

The Doctor didn't answer.

"Doctor! Doctor, you said we were gonna die," Wilf yelled, "But is that all of us? I won't stop you, sir, but is this it?"

The Doctor didn't answer. And he didn't stop.

They were coming up on the mansion now, so close that Rose could see inside the windows, and she thought they were going to crash, but the Doctor pulled up at the last possible second, letting the ship scrape the shingles off of the roof, but no closer. He released the controls and ran over to the hatch in the center of the room, yanking it up. He paused a moment, then looked up and grabbed Rose tightly, crashing his lips against hers roughly and whispering that he loved her into her ear and then he was gone.


	16. End of Time(2) part 3

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW**

**Book of the Update: Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore**

**P.S. Sorry this episode has been so long and also kind of rushed. It's still not over. Just….sorry.**

Chapter 16

The Doctor pulled his arm up to shield his face as best he could when he smashed through the glass ceiling, but it didn't do too much. He didn't even register the pain, however, until he was lying face-down on the floor at the feet of the Time Lords, glass everywhere and pain filling his whole body. Skydiving with no parachute….not fun. Landing on a marble floor with nothing to soften the impact….even worse.

He reached out and grabbed hold of Wilf's gun, lying beside him. He picked it up a few inches but then dropped it, the weight being too much. He tried to at least sit up, but his chest felt like a stampede of elephants had had a dance party on top of it. Probably a broken rib or two. Punctured lung. But he was going to die anyway, so what did it matter.

He winced and grit his teeth as he once again tried to push himself into a sitting position. He failed.

"My Lord Doctor," came the voice of the Lord President, and the Doctor looked up to see him smirking down at him. "Lord Master," he said, addressing the man standing behind the Doctor's body. "We are gathered for the end." The Doctor looked up at him once more through heavy eyes, panting as his lungs, one or even both most likely punctured, began to ache and affect his breathing.

After a few failed attempts, he finally managed to force his broken body into a kneeling position, hunched over the floor. "Listen to me," he said, his voice ragged and hoarse, "You can't-"

"It's a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hand of our most infamous child," Rassilon said, cutting him off.

"Oh, he's not saving you," the Doctor spat through bloody lips, "Don't you realize what he's doing?" he slowly turned to look at the Master, who had told the Doctor not to tell because that was his. Hush.

"Look around you," he continued after that bout of childishness, "I've transplanted myself into every single human being." He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the many Masters around him, all in different clothes. "But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh yes, Mr. President, sir," he continued when he saw the Lord President growing wary, "Standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're gonna look as me!"

The Lord President put his hand forward, opened his fingers, and a blue light shone out of his metal glove. All of the people's heads began to shake back and forth again, like they had when they'd changed into the Master, but now they were changing back. The Master yelled for him to stop, but the Lord President paid him no heed. Soon enough, they all transformed back at exactly the same instant and they all gasped simultaneously.

"On your knees, humankind," the Lord President ordered, and they all obeyed.

The Master looked around, wildly trying to come up with a new plan, one that would keep him alive and in power. "T-that's fine…that's good! Because you said salvation! I still saved you. Don't forget that," he could feel the Doctor's eyes burning into him as he babbled his excuses.

The Lord President ignored him. "The approach begins," he said, looking at the sky with excitement in his eyes.

"Approach of what?" The Master asked, confused.

"Don't you ever listen?" the Doctor snapped, "Something is returning. That was the prophecy, some_thing_ not some_one_."

"What is it?"

"They're not just bringing back the species," the Doctor growled, "They're bringing back the planet! It's Gallifrey! Right here, right now!"

The room – no, the entire planet – began to shake and the sky turned red. All they could see was the planet of Gallifrey, twice the size of planet earth. The humans in the room screamed and ran out of the hallway, but the Time Lords stayed put. The Lord President and his Council on the far wall, the Doctor hunched over the floor in the center of the room, and the Master on the opposite side, begging for credit.

"But I did this!" the Master cried, looking up at the Time Lords, "I'm on your side!"

"Doctor!" he looked up at the sound of her voice, and she ran to him. "Oh my god, Doctor…" she gingerly touched his face, looking like she didn't quite know what to do.

"Hello Rose," he said with a forced smile and she sort of twitched her lips in return. The Doctor looked over her shoulder,

"No, Wilf! Don't!" he cried, but it was too late. Wilf went into the radiation chamber and released the man who had been inside before, locking himself in in the process.

The Master looked up at the sky and his face fell when he saw Gallifrey descending. "B-but this is fantastic, isn't it?" he asked, though it sounded fake. "The Time Lords restored!"

The Doctor glared at him from his place on the floor, crouching underneath Rose's arm. "You weren't there," he said darkly, "In the final days of the war. You never saw what was born. But if the time-lock's broken, then everything's coming through, not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations," Rose winced at the word Daleks, and the Doctor went on, listing more and more of the evils that would be released, "The Hoarde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been-King with his armies of meanwhiles and never-weres….The war turned into hell. And that's what you've opened, right above the earth. Hell. Hell is descending!"

"My kind of world," the Master said, though Rose could tell that he was very uneasy, at the very least.

"Just listen!" the Doctor growled, "'Cause even the Time Lords can't survive that!"

"We will initiate the Final Sanction," announced the Lord President, and Rose looked up. They didn't even spare her a second glance. Why would they, some tiny little human like her? "The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart."

"That's suicide!" the Master cried, looking confused.

"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone, free of these bodies, free of time and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."

"That's mad!" Rose cried out, astonished that anyone would even think up such a thing.

"You see," the Doctor spat, turning to the Master, "this is what they were planning in the final days of the war. I had to stop them."

The Master looked at him, unease in his eyes, but then he looked up at the Time Lords again. "Lord President, take me with you. Let me ascend into glory!"

The Lord President looked revolted. "You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making." The Master's face fell and Rose's heart twinged with pity at the sight. He'd spent his whole life listening to the sound of drumbeats in his head until they had driven him to madness, and then he rescues his people, only to find that they were the ones who had placed the noise in his head, causing his madness, well….that's got to be rough. "No more."

The Lord President raised his metal-gloved hand and it began to glow blue again. He was going to kill the Master. Rose had just barely processed that thought when the Doctor had gently pushed her aside and stood up, holding Wilf's gun out, aimed at the Lord President. Though she knew what the Master had done, she also knew what the Time Lords had done, and was proud to see him standing between them and his childhood friend. But she knew that killing in cold blood was wrong, and she wasn't sure if her Doctor would actually do it or not. But it was his decision, and she would stand by him, no matter what.

She slowly stood up behind him, placing her hand on his other arm, to reassure him she was there. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly, fingers shaking. She squeezed it, and he seemed to relax the tiniest bit.

"Choose your enemy well. We are many," said the Lord President, "The Master is but one."

"But he's the President," the Master spat, "Kill him and Gallifrey could be yours."

Quick as anything, the Doctor turned, the gun now pointed at the Master. His hands began to shake again.

"He's to blame, not me!" the Master said in his defense, pointing at the president. "Oh…" he said after a moment, "I see. The link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back."

Rose could see the Doctor's facial muscles twitch and his eyes flicked back and forth between the Master and the President.

"You never would, you coward," the Master said disdainfully and Rose felt anger surge through her whole body. They were barbaric, each one telling him to kill the other. The Doctor's jaw twitched. "Go on then," the Master encouraged, looking at the gun pointed at his own chest, "Do it."

The Doctor's finger slowly began to pull the trigger and Rose looked at the Master. He put up a brave face, but this was killing him, she could tell. Here he was, watching – no, more like _daring_ – his best friend to shoot him. And his best friend was actually going to do it. He shook his head slightly, his fear-filled eyes round and shining with unshed tears. She looked at the Doctor. His mouth was turned down, incredibly so, almost to the point of unrealness. His jaw was twitching and his brows were pressed closely together. And his eyes. Oh, his eyes. They were just….it was….

He spun on his heel and pointed the gun at the Lord President, the Master immediately crooning behind him, "Excatly! It's not just me, it's him. He's the link, kill him!"

"The final act of your life is murder," the president said, "But which one of us?"

The Doctor looked as though he were about to crack, and Rose held his hand a little tighter, longing to reach up and take the gun, taking his pain away. But she couldn't do that. This was his choice. His eyes went wide as he looked at something behind the president – a Time Lady, one of the two who had been standing with their hands covering their faces. She had taken her hands away and was staring at the Doctor, looking right into his soul. She was crying. Rose wondered who she was, who could look at him like that. Like he was the only person in the world, and was both perfect and entirely wrong all at the same time.

Perhaps she had told him something through the mental link that Time Lords apparently had or perhaps she had just looked at him and he'd known what to do, Rose wasn't sure, but next thing she knew, the Doctor had spun around yet again, and was pointing the gun at the Master. Except he wasn't.

"Get out of the way."

The Master looked confused, but then smiled slyly and ducked out of the way just as the Doctor shot the machine behind him. It erupted into flames and Rose buried her face into the Doctor's shoulder to shield her eyes.

"The link is broken!" shouted the Doctor, "Back into the Time War, Rassilon! Back into hell!"

The Lord President looked furious as a golden light enshrouded the group of Time Lords, taking them away. "You'll die with me, Doctor," he growled.

"I know," the Doctor replied sadly, pushing Rose away as Rassilon aimed his metal glove at the Doctor, primed and ready to kill.

"Get out of the way," the Master said softly from behind him, and the Doctor turned, stunned. The Master shot a ball of energy out of his hand and into Rassilon's body, a furious look in his eyes. "You did this to me!" he shouted, "All of my life!" he switched hands, and the energy – his life energy – kept surging out, blasting into the president with untameable force. "YOU MADE ME!" his skull flashed onto his skin, like it had before. "ONE!" more life energy, "TWO!" more. "THREE!" his skin was translucent now. "FOUR!" even more energy, it seemed like it was all that was left in his body, came pouring out and Rassilon fell to the ground under the force of it. Everything faded to a golden white as the Time Lords were pulled back into the Time War and Gallifrey returned to its own orbit. When Rose's vision had returned to her, she saw the Doctor lying on the floor once more, groaning in pain. She gasped and crouched down next to him.

"I'm alive." He looked at her, really, truly looked at her. She looked awful, bags under her eyes, makeup running down her face, blood and dirt everywhere, hair matted and filthy…..he looked worse. But he was alive. "I've….what…..Rose…..I'm alive! I'm still alive!" he laughed shakily and sat up, his breath coming out in short, puffing exhales and wheezing inhales. He reached out and gently wrapped his arms around her, slowly pulling her to him, still laughing that shaky, dumbstruck little laugh.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

Rose froze, not breathing, as she counted the knocks. Four. The Doctor let go of her and she watched his face fall.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Four times," he whispered and she shook her head, mumbling "no" over and over.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

He stood, his stance defeated, and looked at Wilf. Poor old Wilfred Motts, who was unknowingly fulfilling a prophecy. He will knock four times. The Doctor was going to die. Right here. Right now.

Rose stayed crumpled on the floor, curled around her knees, covering her mouth with her hands, silent tears running down her face.

Wilf waved awkwardly. "They gone then?" the Doctor didn't respond. "Good-o. If you could, uh, let me out…"

The Doctor swallowed. "Yeah." Rose had to bite her fist to choke back a loud sob.

"Only this thing…seems to be making a bit of noise," Wilf said, gesturing to the machine surrounding him.

"The Master left the nuclear bolt running," the Doctor told him, in that 'dumbed-down-but-not-really explanation' way he always used. Rose couldn't help but wonder if the next him would do the same thing, and that thought very nearly sent her into hysterics. The Doctor continued, not looking at her, "It's gone into overload."

"And that's bad, is it?" Wilf asked, tugging on his jacket awkwardly, like he wasn't quite sure what was wrong, but he felt bad.

"Nah," he said dismissively, "'cause all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it," his voice broke here and Rose stood up, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. His hands found hers. "All 500,000 rads about to flood that thing," he explained now that his strength had returned in the form of Rose.

"Oh." Wilf laughed. "Well, you'd better let me out then, eh?"

"Except it's gone critical," the Doctor said sadly, "Touch one control and that thing floods." He pulled out his sonic and twirled it with one hand, still holding tightly to Rose with the other. "Even this would set it off."

"I'm sorry."

There was silence and the Doctor put away the sonic.

"Look, just leave me," Wilf said, waving his hand, "I'm old, lived my life. Not worth it."

The Doctor looked at him, tears in his eyes. "No. I can't. Because you're Wilfred Motts, and this is what you do. What you were always meant to do, all this time," he roared the last part, losing his temper and pushing Rose away to go and fume in the center of the room.

"It's not fair!" he yelled in anger, lashing out and knocking over a table, sending papers flying into the air. "Is this my reward?" he screamed at air, "Is this what I deserve?" He stopped where he was and put his hands to his face. After a few moments, he lowered his hands. His eyes were red and his cheeks were wet. "Suppose I've lived too long."

He began to walk over to the chamber, and Wilf shook his head. "No. No, stop, Doctor…..don't."

Rose put her hand on his chest. "I could….instead of…." But she trailed off when she saw the look in his eyes.

"No, Rose. Not you. It's time." He pulled her close and kissed her forehead, ignoring the shouts from Wilf to stop as he let her go and grabbed the handle of the glass door, looking right into Wilf's eyes. "Wilfred. It's my honor. Better be quick," he finished in a quiet, sort of strangled voice. He swung open the door and slammed it shut, hitting the button and ushering Wilf out all in the count of three.

As soon as Wilf opened his door, the Doctor groaned in pain and closed his eyes, throwing his head back. Rose walked closer to the glass, her hands covering the lower half of her face.

When he fell to the ground, she crumbled next to him. When he cried out in pain, she was there, crying with him through the glass. When his face pressed against the glass in agony, her hand was there, as if she were holding him up. And when he curled up in a ball, pulling on his hair, she was there, curled on the floor facing the glass, her forehead pressed against the glass, her eyes leaving smudges of teary wet mascara on the shiny clear barrier.

And then it was over.

The lights shut off.

The radiation had gone.

And the Doctor was still.


	17. End of Time(2) part 4

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW**

**Book of the Update: Crispin by Avi**

Chapter 17

Rose's head smacked against the glass and her hands were on her head, pulling on her hair. Wilf stepped forward slowly. "Is…is he…."

She shook her head. "S'not like that. Not really. Not yet," was all she said as she watched the Doctor slowly uncurl from the ball he was in on the floor of the radiation chamber. He got up to a kneeling position, his face blank and his eyes dead and unseeing. Sweat was beaded all over his skin.

"Hello," Rose said, giving a small laugh, still crying.

He smiled tightly and painfully. "Hello."

"Still with us?" Wilf asked and the Doctor shakily got to his feet.

"System's dead," he said, his voice a bit raspy, "I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput." He poked the door with one finger and it swung open, Rose scrambling out of the way and to her feet as well. "Oh, now it open, yeah," the Doctor said sarcastically, stepping out of the chamber.

"Well, here we are then," Wilf said, looking at the Doctor a bit confused, "Safe and sound. Mind you, you're in a hell of a state. Got some battle scars there," he pointed to the Doctor's face.

The Doctor just sighed and ran his hands over his face, the wounds fading as soon as his hands made contact. Rose gasped inaudibly, but he just sighed, looking at his hands.

"But…your face…how did you do that?" Wilf asked in total shock.

"It's started."

Wilf didn't say another word, but he walked over and wrapped his arms around the Doctor, who stood there without responding. After a moment, he gently pushed the man who had become a father to him away. "Time to go," he said quietly, heading out of the room and towards the TARDIS, leaving Rose and Wilf to sort of trail after him like pets.

They followed him down the hallway in silence and watched in silence as he unlocked the TARDIS and went inside. The ship seemed to hum sadly when they entered, and her console lights seemed a bit dimmer, like the old girl knew that he was breathing his last as this man. The dematerialization sequence seemed quieter, less vibrant, and she didn't hum and flicker the lights above the door like she normally did when they'd landed somewhere.

They were silent as the Doctor opened the door and stepped back to reveal Wilf's house. He stepped out of the ship, looking around. He saw Sylvia, Donna's mum and his daughter, walk outside the house and wave at them, smiling.

"Donna isn't feeling too well; she's asleep now. Go off and do whatever it is you do, but she needs her rest, so she'll not be going anywhere for an hour or two!" she warned, shaking her finger half playfully, half don't-you-take-my-daughter-away-again-you-alien. Jackie had often had the same expression when talking to the Doctor about Rose.

"We'll be back tomorrow," the Doctor told Wilf, speaking for the first time since they'd left the mansion. "Remind me, what's the date again?"

"Well, it's Christmas Day, 2009," he said in surprise.

The Doctor nodded. "Right." And he walked inside the TARDIS.

Rose put her hand on his arm. "We'll be back tomorrow. I promise." And she followed him, shutting the door behind her. "Where are we going?"

The Doctor looked at her, smiling sadly. "I want my reward."

And that was all he said.

He set the TARDIS to take them to some place that looked like a battlefield. Rose was confused until she saw, a ways away, Mickey Smith and another woman holding hands behind a half-collapsed wall. The Doctor nodded to them. "That's Martha Jones. Brilliant woman. She travelled with me right after I lost you. I think…I think I was trying to make myself feel better, pretend she was you. It didn't work. I think she might have been in love with me," he added, scrunching up his nose. "Well, now she's Martha Smith. Martha and Mickey." He smiled sadly and walked away, pulling her with him by their joined hands, just as the Smiths looked up and saw the two of them.

Then the TARDIS took them to a little neighborhood. Fall. The trees were all red and yellow and there weren't any cars on the street. A boy in a blue shirt was crossing just then, and the only car within probably ten miles either way happened to be right there, not slowing down at all. The Doctor lunged forward, pulling the boy out of the way. He didn't wait for a response, just walked back across the street and grabbed Rose's hand and led them back to the TARDIS. "Sarah Jane's son," he told her, by way of explanation. Behind them, the boy was calling for his mum to come and look, but the Doctor and Rose Tyler never looked back.

Then they were taken to an alien bar, and Rose got really confused. The Doctor ordered a drink for someone across the way and wrote the person a note. Rose didn't know who it was until the big elephant-like alien in front of her moved out of the way and she saw Jack Harkness, grinning at them. His eyes lit up when he saw Rose and he winked at her before looking over at the man next to him with the sailor hat on and looking down at the note again. The Doctor nodded and Jack slid over, smiling charmingly at the man. And then they left.

They went to a bookstore next, where the author was signing copies. The Doctor asked Rose to stay in the TARDIS, and she complied. When he walked back in, he mumbled something about a watch and John Smith and told her he'd tell the full story later.

He groaned in pain, but smiled tightly and walked over to the console. "I'm fine," he said, his teeth grit, "Best go and get Donna now, yeah? She'd kill me if-"

He hunched over the console, his eyes closed and his body shaking. Rose walked over and slowly, cautiously, put out a hand and touched his back. As soon as she made that contact, he spun around and practically fell into her arms, holding her so tightly she probably shouldn't have been able to breathe. He made a noise and it took her a minute to figure out what it was. It had been a sob. A loud, wet, messy sob, straight out of the Doctor's mouth. She had seen him cry before – tears silently running down his face – but nothing of this caliber, this….this…heart-wrenching sobbing.

"Oh, Doctor," she said, wrapping her arms around him and holding him just as tightly as he held her.

"Rose," he said into her neck, "Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose," he was whispering now, "Rose Marion Tyler. You fantastic, beautiful, brilliant, genius, wonderful girl. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you, and don't you ever forget that. Even if whoever I become doesn't know that, then you tell me, smack me upside the head, but please, don't let me forget that. I love you. I love you more than anything in the entire world, and you and the TARDIS are all I've got and now I'm going to die but please, don't leave me," he whispered the last part and she almost laughed.

"Doctor, I thought we discussed this a long time ago. I'm never gonna leave you. Never ever, you crazy old man, I love you. Don't _you_ forget that. Took long enough to get it through your thick head, you bloody genius, so don't forget that I always will, and I won't let you forget. Deal?"

He nodded, and she felt water rub against her face and neck. He was crying. He was really, truly crying, with tears and sobbing and everything. "Deal."

She felt his face getting hotter, and his hands as well, so she pulled back to look at him. "Doctor….it's starting, really now….you're glowing."

He looked at her and she saw the fear in his eyes, and also the love and the passion and the raw, exposed emotion that he rarely showed. His vulnerable side. He grabbed her cheeks and pulled her face to his in a last desperate kiss. They'd kissed before, yeah, but never like this. This was a right proper snog, with hands wandering and tongues twisting and hair everywhere, and it was passionate and desperate and lustful and loving and gentle and rough and slow and fast all at once, and it was over entirely too soon as he was overwhelmed with the golden light and pulled back, breathing heavy.

Rose distantly heard someone singing behind the, perhaps from outside the TARDIS, in the Void, or perhaps somewhere inside the TARDIS, she didn't know and she didn't care. All she knew was that her Doctor had just snogged the life out of her and that now he was backed up against the coral struts, gasping in pain and glowing golden.

He looked at her and their eyes met.

"I love you," she said.

"I don't want to go," he replied, just before he exploded into golden energy, shooting from his face, from his hands and feet. He was changing.

Rose ducked down to avoid the energy, which was much more violent than it had been years ago when his ninth self had regenerated into the one with the spiky hair and pinstripes. This time, there was fire everywhere, and the glass on the windows of the TARDIS door shattered and rained down everywhere. The console was on fire, the coral was on fire, bits of metal were falling from the ceiling, the whole place was shaking like mad, and Rose hopped around for a while, finally deciding that under the jump seat would be the safest place.

She closed her eyes and covered her head, waiting for it to be over. Everything was golden and falling apart. The coral on the walls fell down to the metal grating, cracking into a dozen pieces on impact and sparks were everywhere.

She opened her eyes when she heard someone – a new voice she hadn't heard before – scream in pain and she poked her head up to see the Doctor.

"Rose! Hello there, come on out, I'm not going to bite! I don't think, anyway. Does this me bite? Ooh, what do I look like? No, wait! Wait!"

She slowly got out from under the jump seat and stared at him while he examined himself.

"Legs! I've still got legs!" he grabbed one and kissed his knee, letting it drop to the floor as he almost fell over. "Good. Arms. Hands. Fingers. Ooh, lots and lots of fingers."

The Doctor's suit was too small on this new man, Rose noted. It was stretched tight. Especially over his chest and legs. It was much too short.

The man – the Doctor – pushed his hands up to his face. "Ears, check. Eyes, yes. Nose," he patted it, "Augh, I've had worse. Chin…blimey!" He did have a bit of a chin. It was rather..…big. For a chin.

"Hair!" he reached up and grabbed his hair, panicking when he realized that it came down a bit longer than he would've expected – all the way to his collar and a tiny bit past that. "I'm a girl!" His voice cracked and he gasped. "No." he looked at Rose. "No." he felt his Adam's apple. "No, not a girl. No." he pulled a bit of the hair in front to look at it. "And still not ginger, ugh." He looked at Rose. "Have I ever told you that I've never _once_ been ginger!"

"Doctor," she said quietly, speaking for the first time since he had changed. He stopped what he had been doing with his hair immediately and became serious.

"Rose Tyler. Rose Marion Tyler," he said, rolling her name around on his new tongue. "Rose. Rose. Beautiful name, have I ever mentioned that? Beautiful name for a beautiful girl!" he winked at her and the corners of her mouth slowly twitched up. She reached out and touched his chest, feeling his hearts beat.

He leaned in close to her face. "And guess what the best part is?"

She smiled slowly, searching his eyes. "What?"

"I," he whispered, "Love you. Rose Tyler, I love you. I love you very very much. Haha!" He swooped her up in a hug, laughing, and she knew that this was the same man. She laughed as he swung her around.

"I love you too, Doctor, now put me down and drive the ship! We're crashing!"

He set her down immediately. "Right. Crashing. Ship crashing. Not good." He turned to go to the console, but turned back fast as lightning and pressed his lips to hers before scurrying away to fix the TARDIS. She shook her head. This new man was different, but not bad-different, just….different. She liked him. Quite a lot, in fact.

The TARDIS lurched and pieces of her coral rained down around Rose, the fires flaring up again and smoke coming from the console.

"Can I help?"

"Yes, you can, Rose," he grinned when he said her name, "Grab that thing there, yes, that. We're falling to earth! Rose, I've never fallen to earth before!" he laughed again as the TARDIS spun out of control.

"Geronimo!" He shouted to the sky, and that word, Rose guessed, would stick with this regeneration.

"Geronimo!" She agreed with a laugh, pulling down the lever. The Doctor, in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler. As it should be.

**A/N DO YOU LIKE I TRIED HARD PLEASE TELL DOGE BAD GOOD BECAUSE MUCH STRESS**


	18. Eleventh Hour part 1

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW  
Book of the update: Warriors by Erin Hunter**

Chapter 18: the Eleventh Hour

Rose dragged herself out of the pool with shaking arms, grumbling to herself. Who puts a pool in the library anyway? I mean, come on. The TARDIS sent her an apologetic hum, and she felt the tension go out of her shoulders with a sigh. She tried to stand up the best she could and shook off a bit, pulling off her jacket and dropping it in a soggy heap on the floor – er, back into the pool, that is. She tried her best to wring the water out of her hair, but still felt it dripping down her face and down her back as she tried to stand and walk, shoes squelching with each wobbly step.

A rope swung down, smacking her in the face and she jerked back, very nearly falling into the pool again. She looked up, straight through the door and through the hallway and through the console room and out the door. The Doctor was about halfway there, hanging on the rope, which was hooked to something outside. The TARDIS was on her side, completely wrecked. Rose patted the wall consoling and grabbed the rope, using it to keep her balance while she walked sideways, right up the wall. Well, floor, but it had become the wall.

When she got up to the destroyed console room again, which took a considerable amount of effort, she looked up and saw the Doctor's feet hanging down from the open door, his upper body leaned out over the edge, the rope just beside him. Rose made her way over to him and pulled herself up next to the Doctor, leaning the top half of her body over the edge.

"I love apples," he was saying to a little girl who was standing there looking stunned, shining her flashlight in their faces, "Maybe I'm having a craving!" he looked at Rose, grinning, "That's new. Never had cravings before."

He hoisted himself up with a grunt and swung his legs over the edge, sitting on the thin ledge that used to be the bottom of the TARDIS door. Rose tried, and failed, to pull herself up and out using upper body strength alone, and he reached down and grabbed her waist, gently, and pulled her up next to him with little to no effort.

"Are you okay?" the little girl asked slowly, but she didn't sound scared, just…a bit confused.

The Doctor pushed his floppy wet hair out of his eyes. "Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."

"You're soakin wet," she pointed out and Rose groaned.

"We were in the swimming pool," she tried to explain, but the girl didn't seem to understand.

"You said you were in the library," she scoffed and Rose glared half-heartedly at the Doctor.

"Thickhead over here decided to put the swimming pool _in_ the library." He raised his hands in defense, water dripping off the tip of his nose and she grinned. Couldn't help it.

The little girl rolled her eyes, still shining the flashlight on them. "Are you a policeman?" she asked the Doctor, who leaned forward, looking at her.

"Why? Did you call a policeman?"

"Did you come about the crack in my wall?" she countered, and the Doctor looked at her some more, squinting his eyes as if he were trying to look right through her.

"What cra-ahghk!" He was cut off when his body had like, a spasm or something, and he fell right off the edge of the TARDIS onto the grass, making painful-sounding noises.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, jumping down next to him.

"Are you all right, mister?"

The Doctor got up to his knees, waving his hand and clutching his other hand to his hearts. "No, I'm fine," he told them, his voice sounding strained, "It's okay, this is all perfectly norm-" he jerked forward, clutching both hands to his chest, and picked his head up, opening his mouth. Golden regeneration energy came swirling out and he grinned. The pain seemed to have evaporated with the energy. He looked at his hands, which were also glowing.

"W-who are you?" asked the girl and he looked up at her, laughing.

"I don't know yet. I'm still cooking. Who am I?" he asked, looking at Rose, who grinned her tongue-in-teeth grin, mostly okay with this. It was her second go-around with his regenerations, after all.

"Haven't the foggiest," she told him honestly, then looked at the little girl, "Does it scare you?"

"No, it just looks a bit weird," she said in a sassy voice.

"No, no, no, she meant the crack in your wall. Does it scare you?" the Doctor corrected, still looking at his hands.

"Yes," the girl answered slowly, her mouth turning down.

Rose felt bad for her, but the Doctor smiled. "Well then," he said, hopping to his feet, "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose. Do everything we tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off," he looked at Rose for the last part and she rolled her eyes, getting to her feet as well. He turned and walked briskly in the wrong direction – though Rose guessed that he probably didn't _know_ it was wrong – and promptly walked head-first into a tree, falling back onto the floor, the way it would happen in a corny television show.

"Ya' all right?" the girl asked and Rose rolled her eyes.

"He's fine."

"Early days, Rose, remember? Steering's a bit off." And with that he stood up and walked off, in the right direction this time, leaving Rose and the little girl to follow him.

DOCTOR WHO

Rose groaned and placed her head in her hands as he spat something else out onto the floor. So far, they'd found out that this regeneration did not like apples, yogurt, bacon, beans, and now bread and butter.

"We've got some carrots," said the girl, who Rose was beginning to feel very bad for.

"Carrots!" He exclaimed, "That's disgusting. Carrots are evil. No, I know what I need." He stood up and went to the fridge with her, pulling out a box from the freezer. "Fish fingers," and a box from the fridge, "And custard."

And fish fingers and custard it was. Rose looked at him while he ate them happily, dipping the fish fingers into the custard and then just pouring the whole bowl into his mouth. "Oh, that's disgusting," she told him and he turned to her with a custard-mustache and kissed her cheek, getting the stuff all over her face. She pulled away and wiped it off with the back of her hand. "Stay away from me!" She cried, laughing.

The girl was watching them with a bemused expression as she ate her ice cream – right out of the container, no less. If Rose had done that when she was little, Jackie would've been a bit less than pleased. Oh, God….Jackie. She'd never be able to see her mum again. She'd known that, of course. Said her goodbyes before she used the dimension cannon, but it was just now hitting her. The only person she really had in this universe was sitting next to her, eating fish fingers and custard.

"Funny," the girl commented, watching the Doctor lick his lips, still eating custard-coated fish fingers.

"Am I? Good. Funny's good."

There was silence, and Rose looked at the girl, who was still watching them with wide eyes. "What's your name?" she asked kindly, and the girl snapped right to attention.

"Amelia. Amelia Pond."

"Oh!" The Doctor exclaimed, "That's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond."

"Like a name in a fairytale," Rose agreed.

"Are we in Scotland, Amelia?"

She sighed. "No, had to move to England. It's rubbish."

Rose snorted, but the Doctor said nothing about Amelia's distaste for England. "What about your mum and dad then?" he asked instead, "Are they upstairs? Thought we would've awoken them by now." Rose elbowed him when she saw the look on Amelia's face and he stopped talking.

"Don't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt."

"I don't even have an aunt," the Doctor told her with his mouth full of fish fingers.

Amelia's eyes widened. "You're lucky."

"I know."

There was silence for a moment or two and Rose felt the need to break it before it became uncomfortable. "So where's your aunt, then?"

"She's out."

"And she left you here all by yourself?" Rose was stunned; the girl couldn't have been older than maybe 7.

"I'm not scared!"

"Course you're not!" the Doctor agreed, still eating his fish fingers and custard, "You're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, people fall out of the box, man eats fish custard, and look at you. Just sitting there," he said with his mouth full, "So you know what I think?"

"What?" she asked softly and the Doctor's voice lowered to match hers.

"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."

Amelia blinked, and for a moment, Rose thought she was going to cry, but then she was up on her feet. "Come on," she said, leading them up the stairs, probably to her bedroom with the crack in the wall.

The Doctor shoved his remaining fish finger into his mouth and jumped up, grabbing Rose's hand and pulling her with him when he passed her chair.

Amelia led them up the stair and to her bedroom, and when they walked in, she was standing in the middle of the room, pointing at a large crack on the wall. The Doctor released Rose's hand and went over to the crack, inspecting it. "You've had some cowboys in here," he mumbled, "Not actual cowboys. Though that can happen."

Amelia, who was standing by Rose, looked at the apple in her hand. "I used to hate apples," she said quietly, "so my mum put faces on them." She showed it to Rose, who smiled.

"She sounds like a good mum."

"Do you want it? In case you change your mind about apples?" Amelia asked, offering it to the Doctor, who took it and looked at its face before slipping it into his pocket.

"Thanks. I'll keep it for later." He went back to looking at the crack. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing, where's the draft coming from?" he looked at it in bemusement.

"Scan it. You've still got the sonic, don't you?" Rose prodded and he pulled it out of his pocket, scanning the crack in the wall.

"Thank you, Rose Tyler. Honestly, what would I do without you?" He scanned the wall and then looked at his screwdriver. "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey. Do you want to know what the crack is?"

"What?"

"It's a crack. But," he continued, "I'll tell you something funny. If you knock this wall down, the crack would stay put, 'cause the crack isn't in the wall."

"Where is it, then?" Rose asked and he spun to then, sonic still in hand.

"Everywhere. And everything. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched," he turned back to the wall and put his ear to it, running his fingers along the crack, "pressed together…right here in the wall of your bedroom. Sometimes, can you hear…?"

"A voice," Amelia confirmed, "Yes."

There was a deep rumbling noise, almost like a roar, and the Doctor ran across the room and picked up the glass of water on Amelia's bedside table, tossing the water out onto the floor. He put the glass cup to his ear and walked back to the wall, listening.

"Prisoner Zero…." He said quietly, and Amelia finished it for him,

"has escaped. That's what I heard; what does it mean?"

"There's a prison on the other side of the crack, yeah? And they've lost a prisoner?" Rose asked and the Doctor nodded slightly.

"Exactly. And do you know what that means?"

"What?"

"It means you need a better wall." He walked over and picked up her dresser, taking it over to the crack. "The only way to close the breach is to open it up all the way. The forces will invert, and it'll snap itself shut. Or…."

"What?" Amelia asked anxiously and the Doctor put the dresser down and looked at her.

"You know when grownups tell you everything's going to be fine, and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"

"Yes," Amelia said, as though it happened to her a lot.

The Doctor looked at Rose briefly and his eyes widened as he looked back to Amelia. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Doctor, what're you…." She trailed off when he took her hand and pulled her beside him, and she pushed Amelia behind her a bit, to protect her as much as she could from whatever he was about to do.

He raised his hand with the sonic and adjusted the setting before turning it on the crack, and everything began to glow, and the crack _opened_.

"_Prisoner Zero has escaped_," said a booming, rumbly voice from somewhere in the black starry space inside the crack. It repeated that, over and over like a mantra.

"Hello?" the Doctor called, leaning toward the crack. Rose tightened her grip on his hand, a bit frightened. "Helloooo!" He called again, but jerked back just as fast when an eyeball appeared at the crack.

"What's that?" Amelia whispered, but the Doctor didn't answer. A light flew out from the eyeball and hit the Doctor in the chest. He fell backward, and the crack closed.

"There," he said," Y'see. Told you it would close. Good as new."

"Was that Prisoner Zero?" Rose asked, but he shook his head.

"No. No, I think that was Prisoner Zero's guard. Whatever it was it sent me a message." He pulled out the psychic paper. "Prisoner Zero has escaped. But why tell us?" he wondered aloud after reading the message.

Rose got a chill, right down to her bones. "Doctor, you don't think…."

He looked at her, and then looked around the room. "I do think."

"What?" Amelia asked, confused.

"Prisoner Zero escaped through here," the Doctor told her, still looking around the room. "But he couldn't have. We'd know." He started as a thought came to him and ran out of the room, tugging Rose with him and leaving Amelia to follow behind.

He ran into the hallway and looked around. He looked at them. "It's difficult, brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing…..in the corner of my eye….." he turned, but didn't seem to see anything.

"Doctor," Rose said nervously, but she was unable to finish when the TARDIS bell began to ring and the Doctor ran to her, dropping Rose's hand and yelling no, no, no, and something about the engines.

Rose followed them, clutching her head, which had begun to pound like mad. She didn't even get to the kitchen when all of a sudden, everything went black, and all she knew was the pounding pain inside her head, the beautiful ship screaming in pain. And then there was nothing.

DOCTOR WHO

"Miss? Miss?" someone was shaking her. "Miss Rose?" she opened her eyes and blinked to clear the fogginess in her head.

"Yeah. Hey. I'm alright," she mumbled, her tongue tripping over the words in confusion. She sat up and grabbed her head as everything started to spin again.

"You'd better come quick if ye' want to see him land. He said five minutes, and it's been four already," said the little girl – Amelia.

Rose started. "See him land? He left?" she stood up and ran outside, ignoring the dull pounding in her head. She ran to the place where the TARDIS had crashed, looking around in a panic.

"Calm down," Amelia said, rolling her eyes, "He'll be back any minute now." she dropped the little suitcase she'd been holding and sat down on it, resting her chin on her hands. Rose noticed that the girl had on a thick winter coat and mittens and a funny little red hat with a puff on the top, her hair fluffed out underneath it.

Rose gaped at her. "He's gone. And you just let him go?" she shook her head and began to pace, wringing her hands. "No, that's fine. Nothing wrong at all. He'll be back. The TARDIS wouldn't let him leave me. He'll be back." And with those words, she came and plopped down in the grass beside Amelia, waiting.

"He'll be back, don't worry," the little girl promised, patting Rose on the head awkwardly. And when ten minutes had passed, the girl still had complete faith. "Maybe he's just a little late. He'll be here any minute now."

But as the minutes ticked on and soon turned into hours, Rose grew very worried indeed. And when she looked at her watch and saw that it'd been an hour and that little Amelia was nearly asleep, she stood up and picked up the little girl, carrying her inside despite her protests.

"We can wait inside," she told her in a falsely cheery voice, "He wouldn't want you catching cold."

And when Amelia fell asleep in the dining room chair, still waiting, Rose picked her up and set her down on the couch and snuggled her up in a blanket.

And when the sun rose and he still hadn't come back for them, her hope began to waver and she stopped looking out into the yard every five minutes.

And when Amelia's aunt, Sharon, came back, Rose spun a tale about a lost little girl and the neighbor who'd brought her home, and offered her services as a babysitter for the next time the little girl's aunt had errands to run. After all, it wouldn't do if the girl who waited was left waiting all alone. That just wouldn't do at all.

And so Rose became babysitter, and then full-time nanny to Amelia as she grew up, and Rose lived in the house, keeping an eye on the crack in the bedroom wall. And she kept an eye on that funny little door that shouldn't have been there, too, because it seemed like something she should watch out for.

And she was there when the little girl awoke to find that her raggedy doctor man hadn't returned, and she was there through all the tears. She was there to convince Aunt Sharon that the girl didn't need a therapist, she was only overly imaginative. And she was there to tell little Amelia Pond that she believed her tale of doctors and police and blue boxes and fish custard, because she had been there when the tale had taken place. She was there through second grade, and through third, and all the way up to eighth grade graduation, where Amelia Pond – no, Amy – waved at her old babysitter from up on stage. And she was there through high school, and through Rory, and through high school graduation. And she was there when Amy Pond – now all grown up – decided that she didn't believe the fairytales anymore. She didn't believe in her imaginary friend anymore, either, and so Rose had to leave. But she was always there, watching, waiting, helping.

She was there. As a babysitter. As a nanny. As an imaginary friend. As a neighbor. She was there through all of it in the life of Amelia Pond, for all 12 years. And she was always exactly the same.

**A/N So, tell me what you think…? And, just want to brag about this, I KNOW THE DOCTOR'S ACTUAL CANON NAME LIKE FOR REALS.**

**Also, poll on my profile. Isn't gonna vote for itself, you know. River Song. Important. Hehe.**


	19. Eleventh Hour part 2

A/N I don't own BBC or DW  
Book of the Update: Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

Chapter 19

He stepped out of the TARDIS, holding a handkerchief over his mouth and nose to block out the fumes, and looked around in confusion. Something felt….off.

"Rose! Amelia!" no response. "I worked out what it was," he yelled, running to the door and trying to unlock it with his sonic screwdriver. "I know what I was missing! You've got to get out of there!" it took him a few tries, but the sonic eventually unlocked the door and he flung it open, rushing inside.

"Rose? Amelia? Are you all right? Is anyone there?" he leapt up the stairs and ran over to the door that shouldn't be there and scanned it. "Prisoner Zero is here," he muttered, reading the results on the sonic. "Prisoner Zero is here!" He yelled, alerting everyone on the floor. "Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is-" a creaking noise. He spun around, and the last thing he saw was a big piece of wood, perhaps a cricket bat, and then everything went black.

DOCTOR WHO

"….white male, mid-twenties, breaking and entering. Send me some backup, I've got him restrained." It was a woman who spoke, well, a girl really. She had pale skin and red hair pulled up underneath a police hat. She had been speaking into a radio, probably to other policemen. She turned to him, putting the radio away. "Oi! You, sit still."

He hadn't been moving. "I'm getting…..cricket bat?" he said, focusing on the blurriness and the dull ache in the back of his head.

"You were breaking and entering."

The Doctor tried to stand up, only to fall back, having been handcuffed to the radiator behind him. "Oh, that's much better. Brand-new me. Whack on the head, just what I needed."

"Do you want to shut up now? I've got backup on the way."

"Hang on," he said, putting together the pieces. "You're a policewoman."

"And you're breaking and entering. You see how this works?"

"What are you doing here? Where's Rose? Amelia? Where is she?"

The woman's eyes widened and she fidgeted where she stood. "Amelia Pond?"

"Yeah. Amelia. Little Scottish girl. Where is she? I promised her five minutes, but the engines were phasing; I must've gone a bit far. And where's Rose? I left her here, completely by mistake, with Amelia. Is she alright? Where is she? Has something happened to them?" he asked as he saw the woman's brows scrunch together.

"Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time," she said quietly and his face fell. He looked shocked.

"How long?"

"Six months."

"No! No, no, no! I can't be six months late!" He sounded somewhere between laughing and devastated, and the girl looked a bit bewildered. "I said five minutes. I promised." He banged his head against the radiator. "Oh, Rose is going to kill me."

The woman turned away from him and began to speak into her radio again. He jerked up. "What happened to her? Where are they?"

"Sarge, it's me again. Hurry it up," she said into the radio, ignoring him, "This guy knows something about Amelia Pond."

"Hello? Yes, listen. I need to speak to whoever lives in this house right now," he said, his tone very serious.

"I live here."

"But you're the police."

"And this is where I live. Got a problem with that?"

His eyes flitted to something behind her. "How many rooms?"

"What?"

"On this floor. How many rooms on this floor. Count them for me now."

"Five," she said, raising her eyebrows at him. "One, two, three, four, five-"

"Six," he said quickly, looking behind her. "Look."

"Look where?"

"Exactly where you don't wanna look. Where you never wanna look. The corner of your eye. Look behind you."

She turned, very very slowly, and looked. And she saw it. "It's just like she said. It's really there."

"Who said?"

She ignored him. "How's that possible. I've never been able to see it."

"There's a perception filter all around that door. Sensed it last time I was here. Should've seen it."

"Perception filter," the policewoman mumbled, "That's what she told me. But I didn't listened. Thought she wasn't even real, for a while."

"Who? Who is she? Tell me, now!"

She ignored him again, walking towards the door.

"There's something hiding, and you need to uncuff me!" He yelled at her back.

"Don't have the key. I lost it," she said quietly, almost a whisper.

"How could you have lost it! Stay away from that door! Do not touch that door!"

She reached out and grabbed the handle. "She went inside. She said she saw something. Wouldn't tell me what it was. She said it was hiding. Asleep." The woman turned the handle, and it made a squeaky noise.

"Listen to me! Do not open that door!" too late. The door was opened. "Why does no one listen to me? Do I just have a face that nobody listens to?" he yelled at her retreating form as she went inside the room.

He began to dig through his pockets, but couldn't find it anywhere. "My screwdriver. Where is it? Silver thing, blue at the end, what did you do with it?"

"There's nothing here," the policewoman called from inside the room and he rolled his eyes.

"It could hide the whole room, what makes you think you would be able to see it? Now, please, just get out!"

"Silver, blue at the end?"

"My screwdriver, yeah."

"It's here."

He stopped searching through his pockets. "Must've rolled under the door."

"Yeah," she called out, her voice quavering a bit, "Must have. And then it must have jumped up on the table."

He froze and looked up at the door. "Get out of there," he said in an icy calm voice. "Get out of there," he yelled, less calm, when she didn't come out or answer. "Get out!" he yanked on the handcuffs, but it did no good. "Get out of there!" he was up on his knees, trying to see inside the room while still basically stuck in one place.

There was silence, and then he heard footsteps shuffling about in the room. "What is it? What are you doing?"

"There's something here, but…." Her voice was breathy and nervous.

"Corner of your eye," he said softly, and she asked what it was. "Don't try to see it. If it knows you've seen it, it will kill you! Don't look at it!" he heard a gasp. "Do not look."

And then there was a hissing, growling sort of noise, followed by a shrill scream.

"Get out!" he yelled, shaking the cuffs madly, trying to escape and save her. She came running out, slamming the door behind her. She was holding his sonic screwdriver. "Give me that." He fiddled with the settings, trying to ignore the sticky slime that covered it and was currently dripping onto his pants and onto the floor. It took a few tries, but he eventually heard the door click locked and set about unlocking his handcuffs. "Come on, what's the bad alien done to you?" he muttered and the woman looked at him with wide eyes.

"Will that door hold it?"

"Oh yeah," he replied sarcastically, "Yeah, course. It's an interdimensional multiform from outer space. They're all terrified of wood."

She glared at him, but then made a squeaking noise, looking at the door, which had begun to glow around the edges. "What's happening?"

He looked up. "I dunno. Getting dressed. Run. Just go. Your backup's coming; I'll be fine." He set to work on his cuffs again, wiping to goo off the sonic.

"There is no backup," she spat at him and he looked up.

"No, I heard you on the radio. You called for backup."

"I was pretending," she explained impatiently, "It's a pretend radio."

"But you're a police woman!"

"I'm a kiss-o-gram!" she took off her hat and flung it into the air, revealing lots and lots of red hair.

He stared at her, completely dumbfounded, but the door swung off its hinges and landed on the floor. A man with a dog on a leash stepped out on top of it.

The woman was shocked. "But it's just…"

"No it isn't," he told her, staring at it, "Look at the faces."

Sure enough, when the creature growled and barked, the dog's face did not move. The human was the one barking.

"What? I'm sorry, but _what_?"

"It's all one creature, disguised as two. Clever old multi-form."

When the man turned his head, the dog turned the same way at the same time, and vice versa. The woman backed up, pressing herself against the wall.

"A bit of a rushed job, though," the Doctor continued, "Got the voice a bit muddled, did you?" he called, asking the creature. It barked and the heads turned to look at him. "Mind you, where'd you get the pattern from? You'd need a psychic link, a live feed. How'd you fix that?"

The creature growled, exposing its teeth. Its long, sharp, fangs, dripping with alien goo.

"Stay, boy," the Doctor called, "Her and me," he patted the woman's shoe. "We're safe. She called for backup."

"I didn't send for backup. Not really!"

He sighed. "I know. That was a clever lie to save our lives. Okay, yeah, no backup. And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you. If we _had_ backup, then you'd have to kill us."

"_Attention, Prisoner Zero_," called the voice of the guard with the eye and the message on the psychic paper. "_The human residence is surrounded_." It repeated that over and over again.

"What's that?" hissed the woman and the Doctor groaned.

"Well that would be backup. Okay, one more time. We do have backup, and that's definitely why we're safe."

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

"Well. Safe apart from, you know, incineration."

The creature walked into a different room and the Doctor banged the screwdriver against his leg, growling when nothing happened. "Come on, work, work. Come on."

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

"Come on. Come on…."

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

It finally lit up blue and he pointed it at the cuffs, unlocking them. He jumped to his feet and pushed the woman in front of him. "Run! Run!"

She yelped and began to run, him right on her heels. Through the hallway, down the stairs, through another hallway, past the living room, through the kitchen, and out the kitchen door into the garden.

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

He sonic'd the door shut and looked at her, still running. "Kiss-o-gram?"

"Yes, a kiss-o-gram! Now what is going on?"

"Why'd you pretend to be a police woman?" he asked madly, ignoring her question.

"You broke into my house! It was this or a French maid," she grumbled, stomping after him. They'd stopped running, but were still walking rather fast through the garden. "What's going on? Tell me!"

He stopped by the TARDIS and turned to look at her, exasperated. "An alien convict is hiding in your spare room, disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house? Any questions? Me too," he responded when she answered with the affirmative.

He turned back to the TARDIS, trying to unlock it, but the old girl wouldn't let him in. "No, no, no! Don't do that, not now! It's still rebuilding, not letting us in!" He looked frantic, stroking the blue wood. The woman grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away, yelling "come on!", and he went with her, but stopped short just as fast, pulling her back.

"Hang on, wait, wait, that shed. I destroyed that shed last time I was here, smashed it to pieces."

"So, there's a new one. Let's go!"

"Yeah, but the new one's got old!" he cried, looking at it in astonishment. "It's ten years old at least!" he sniffed it, and then licked it and his face froze. "Twelve years. I'm not six months late, I'm twelve years late," he walked over to the woman, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"He's coming," she said, but he ignored it.

"You said six months!"

"We've got to go!"

"This matters. This is extremely important. Why did you say six months?"

She snapped and turned on him. "Why did you say five minutes?!" she yelled, her face turning red.

He looked stunned. "What."

"Come on."

"What. What?"

"Come on!"

"WHAT?"

She grabbed his arm and began to run, pulling him along easily in his absolutely stunned state.

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

She screamed and turned the other way as they nearly ran right into the creature itself. She pulled him past her house and out of the yard and out of the neighborhood, but he stopped them on a little sidewalk-road once he regained the ability to think.

"You're Amelia."

"And you're late!"

"Amelia Pond, the little girl. That's you."

"I'm Amelia, and you're late," she agreed, walking away from him. He followed her.

"What happened?"

"Twelve years."

"You hit me with a cricket bat."

"Twelve years."

"Cricket bat!"

"Twelve years!"

He stopped short, and his hands flew to his head. "Twelve years. Twelve years. Oh my god, twelve years. Where's Rose? What's happened to her?"

Amelia opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by something coming over the speaker of an ice cream truck,

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

The vender looked confused, fiddling with the speaker.

"No, no, no, no. We're being staked out…by an ice cream van!"

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

The Doctor ran over to the truck, Amelia hot on his heels. "What's that?" he asked the vender, who looked very confused, "Why are you playing that?"

"It's supposed to be Clair de lune," he defended, looking around, unsure what to do when the Doctor took his speaker and put it to his ear, listening.

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

He set it down and looked around the whole park area, listening. An old woman's phone was playing the warning from the guard. And a girl's iPod. And someone's car radio.

"Doctor," Amelia asked, "What's happening?"

He didn't respond, running away and jumping a short fence in someone's yard. She followed him, going around the fence instead of over it.

He swung open the front door to find an old woman pressing the buttons on her television remote, looking at the screen, which showed the guard's eye and was playing the warning over and over.

"Hello! Sorry to burst in like this! We're doing a special on television faults in this area," he explained to her. Amelia came up at his shoulder, and he looked at her attire. "Also crimes. Let's have a look."

He walked over and took the remote from her, examining it and the television.

"I was just about to phone. It's on every channel," she gestured to the image of the guard's eye. The Doctor patted her shoulder and she sighed and turned to Amelia. "Hello, Amy, dear. Are you a policewoman now?"

She smiled fakely and bobbed her head, seeming a little awkward. "Well, sometimes."

"I thought you were a nurse."

"I can. Be a nurse," she said, tense. The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"Or, actually, a nun?" the old woman questioned, and Amy flung her hands into the air above her head. "I dabble," she said with a fake laugh.

The woman nodded, but the Doctor could tell she saw through Amelia's lies. "Amy, who's your friend?"

"Who's Amy? You were Amelia," he said in an accusatory tone and she glared at him.

"Yeah, and now I'm Amy."

"Amelia Pond," he said incredulously, "That was a great name!"

She pursed her lips. "Bit fairytale."

"I know you, don't I? I've seen you somewhere before?" the woman asked the Doctor, and he grinned.

"Not me. Brand new face." He stretched his jaw, as if to demonstrate. "And what sort of job's a kiss-o-gram?" he asked Amy, who gave him a murderous look.

"I go to parties, and I….kiss people," she said, trying to defend herself, "With outfits. It's a laugh."

He looked stunned. "You were a little girl five minutes ago!"

"You're worse than my aunt!"

"I'm the Doctor, I'm worse than everybody's aunt!" he looked at the old woman in front of him, "And that is not how I'm introducing myself," he told her, shaking the sonic screwdriver in the air.

She nodded, sort of smiling, sort of unsure, and watched as he sonic'd her radio, which began playing the same message in different languages. Korean. German. Italian. Swedish. French. Spanish. He shut it off.

"Okay. So. It's everywhere, in every language. They're broadcasting to the whole world."

He dropped the radio and ran to the window, opening it and shoving his head outside, looking up.

"What's out there? What are you looking for?" Amy cried from inside, but he ignored her, pulling his head back inside a few moments later.

"Okay, planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core, they're going to need a 40% fission blast."

The front door slammed shut and a tall, buff man walked in, carrying a bag with a big laptop inside. The Doctor ran right over to him and began to speak up in his face, looking up at the taller man.

"So, assuming a medium-sized starship, that's twenty minutes." He bobbed up and down, trying to be at the man's height. "What do you think? Twenty minutes? Yeah…twenty minutes." He looked back at the old woman and Amy. "We've got twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes till what?" asked Amy, her hands on her hips.

"Are you the Doctor?" asked the buff man from behind him, and the woman agreed.

"He is, isn't he? He's the Doctor! The raggedy doctor!" she looked at Amy, "You remember? Oh, you used to go on and on about him!"

"Shut up." Amy said, turning bright red.

"I remember, Gran. Everything was always about the imaginary friends when we were kids."

"Jeff, shut up. Twenty minutes to what?"

The Doctor had gone and plopped down on the couch, ignoring them while they talked about him.

"_Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated_."

He stared at the television, thinking hard. "Human residence. They're not talking about your house, they're talking about the planet. Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship. And it's going to incinerate the planet." He looked at the television again, which was still repeating the warning. "Twenty minutes until the end of the world."

The front door banged open loudly and someone rushed in, a blur of pink and yellow. "We've got to do something, Amy! It's that guard, they've got a ship and they're going to….." she trailed off when she saw who was sitting on the couch.

His jaw dropped.

She looked stunned, and didn't do or say anything for a while. And then she turned on her heel and walked back out the front door, slamming it shut behind her so hard that the walls rattled.

"Oh no," he said softly, jumping up from the couch and running to the door, "That isn't good at all." And with that, the door was open and he was gone, running after her. The Doctor chasing after Rose Tyler. Again.

**A/N I think I really really hate this like a lot I'm so sorry I tried I really did but it ended up just being the episode almost exactly the same save for a few mentions of Rose but other than that ugh hate it. Next chapter will be better and up soon I promise.**


	20. Eleventh Hour part 3

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW  
Book of the Update: The Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling**

**P.S. I don't authorize the use of cursing, but we all know that Rose doesn't have the cleanest mouth, so I apologize.**

Chapter 20

"Rose!" He yelled, running after her retreating form. "Wait!" He jumped back as a car horn sounded and he looked over to see he had run right into the road and nearly been hit. He barely spared the car a second glance before he started to run again, calling after her.

He finally caught up to her on an empty street with a few buildings on one side and a field on the other. He reached out and caught her wrist and she stopped short, turning back to look at him. There were tears running down her face, making black smears of makeup going down her cheeks. It broke his hearts to see her like this, and he reached up to cupped her face in his hands, using the pads of his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

"Shhhh, don't cry," he whispered, his brows scrunched together in concern, "Please don't cry, Rose."

She jerked her head back and before he knew what was happening, her palm had connected with his cheek. Hard. "You _bastard_!" she screamed, her face red with fury. She sniffed, tears still running down her face, though she looked more angry than sad now. "Why the hell did you leave me behind?" she asked and he flinched, cowering under her gaze.

"I had to, there wasn't time! I thought I would be back in five minutes. I never meant for this to happen."

She laughed bitterly, crossing her arms. "It's been a little longer than five minutes."

He looked down, ashamed. "I know. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. When I landed, it'd been five minutes for me, but the sun was up, so I knew that I was late. And then Amelia told me it had been six months, but then I saw the shed and I knew. And I'm sorry, Rose, honestly, I didn't mean to."

"It's been twelve years, Doctor. Twelve _years_."

He reached out tentatively, and she flinched, but didn't push him away, so he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him, his face in her hair. "I know. I know."

She held back the urge to wrap her arms around his neck and just stood there, breathing in his scent. It still hadn't changed. He'd always smelled the same, whether he had big ears or fluffy hair or a bit of a chin. It was one constant about him, and she loved it. She loved him.

"Oh God, I've missed you," she mumbled into his ear, her walls finally cracking, and he said nothing, only pulled her closer. "Don't you ever go off without me again, alright? At least tell me first, don't leave it up to a little girl. You left me to deal with her broken heart, as well as my own, and it wasn't easy."

He pulled away, searching her eyes for forgiveness, "Rose, I-"

"Shh. Don't," she said, putting a finger to his lips. She was still furious, but there was no need to put that on his shoulders as well. Even if it _was_ his fault. "I'm fine. It's over, yeah? Now we're together again. The old team."

"Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake," he agreed, remembering.

"Which one's Shiver?"

"Oh, I'm Shake."

She smiled at him, only slightly forced, and he smiled back, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Now then," he said in an official tone, pulling away but still leaving their hands linked together. "Tell me, Rose Tyler, why you look as if it's been only five minutes since I saw you last? Amelia grew up, but you…." He took out the screwdriver and scanned her with it, buzzing it in a swirl around her face and then down her body and back up again, "Look exactly the same. Absolutely beautiful," he added, kissing her nose, "but absolutely the same." The screwdriver seemed to yield no results, and he put it away, shaking his finger at her playfully. "Don't think you'll be getting away that easily now, you're going straight to the medbay when we get back on the TARDIS."

Rose groaned, but then her eyes snapped open. "Doctor, the planet!"

He started. "Ah! Yes! The planet is going to be incinerated in…well, it was twenty minutes. Now it's seventeen."

"Twenty two," Rose corrected.

"What?"

"Twenty two. It's lots of little ships up there, they've all got to communicate to make sure they'll all fire at the same time before they burn the planet, right? Adds a bit of time."

"What?" he asked in shock, "How do you know that?"

"One ship couldn't transmit that warning all over the earth. 'S like satellites, they have to go all the way around, yeah?"

He looked blown away. "Rose, that's….that's wonderful! How did you manage to work that out?"

She rolled her eyes and began to walk the other way, pulling the Doctor along by their joined hands. "It's not like I've just been her waiting for your sorry ass for twelve years! I've been watching the crack and everything on the other side."

"What?!," he said, grabbing her wrist.

"What d'ya mean what? _Let's go_!"

"What do you mean everything on the other side? How could _you_ see the other side?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! Everything about you matters!"

"It's not like you're the only one on earth with alien scanners; now _come on_!" and she ran back the other way, ignoring him as he spluttered behind her, spitting out questions left and right.

DOCTOR WHO

"Perfect. Twenty two minutes to save the world, give or take a few, and I've got a post office. And it's shut. _What_ is that?"

"It's a duck pond," Amy supplied, looking bewildered.

The Doctor ran ahead to the duck pond, pulling Rose with him, since he refused to let go of her hand. He looked into the pond. "Why aren't there any ducks?"

"I dunno, there's never been any ducks," Rose told him, just as confused as Amy was.

"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?"

She spluttered, and Amy answered for her, "It just is! Is it important, the duck pond?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said, "How would I know?" and on the last word, he spasmed, his head jerking back and he fell to the ground, taking Rose with him. He was clutching at his hearts. "This is too soon. I'm not ready; I'm not done yet," he told her, breathing heavily.

"Tea? Would tea help? Like at Christmas?

He nodded. "No, no, It's not a neural implosion, just ah, still cooking" he growled, still gasping in pain.

"What's happening?" Amy asked, looking at the sky, "Why's it going dark?"

They looked up at the sky, which had been covered with grey clouds. All of a sudden, the clouds cleared to reveal the sun, but it looked sort of funny, like it was covered with a netting.

"So what's wrong with the sun?"

"Nothing. You're looking at it through a forcefield. They've sealed off your upper atmosphere and now they're getting ready to boil the planet." He looked over at the park just a ways away from them, where people were crowding in, looking up at the sky. Some were taking pictures with their camera phones.

"Oh, look, and here they come," the Doctor said, "The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone," he spat the last part and got to his feet, pulling Rose up as well.

"This isn't real, is it? This is all some kind of big wind-up," Amy said, waving her hand and going into a sort of defensive 'deny everything' mode, like she had as a child, after the Doctor had left.

"Why would I wind you up?"

She clasped her hands beneath her chin and turned her head to face them, her eyes flitting about nervously. "You told me he had a time machine," she said to Rose, who nodded.

"He does."

"No, no, no. That was just what you told me when I was a kid and couldn't sleep at night. When all I wanted to do was run away with the raggedy doctor man!"

"Yes, I did tell you that, but it was true," Rose told her in an impressively calm voice. She was anything but calm. "Amy, you've got to believe me. You know me. Why would I lie to you for twelve years?"

Amy became fidgety and nervous, jumping at every noise from the park behind them. "You weren't even real! Why should I listen to you? Maybe I'm just going mad!"

"Wait, no. I saw something. There was something I saw and I missed it!" The Doctor cried, his face freezing up. He stayed absolutely still for a second, but Rose could practically hear his mind racing, tracing back through everything he saw. He blinked, and she knew he had found it. "Twenty two minutes! I can do it. I can save the world in twenty two minutes! So, run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help me."

"No," Amy said.

"I'm sorry?"

"No!" She screamed and reached out and grabbed him by his tie and dragged him over to Mr. Reynolds, who had just gotten out of his car, and she slammed the door shut and locked it, the Doctor's tie stuck inside, ignoring Rose's cries to stop as she was pulled along too.

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked incredulously and she glared at him.

"Who are you?"

"Amy!" Rose said, astonished, "He's the Doctor; you know who he is!"

She ignored her. "No really, who are you?"

"Look at the sky! End of the world, twenty two minutes," the Doctor said quietly, still backed up against the car, arcing awkwardly over the window.

"Better talk quickly then."

"Amy," said Mr. Reynolds, "I am going to need my car back."

"Yes. In a bit, now go and have coffee," she said in exasperation, not even sparing him a glance.

"Right. Yes." And he walked away, sighing.

The Doctor rummaged in his pocket for a second and then pulled out an apple and threw it to her, muttering "catch" as he did so. The apple had a face on it, the white parts still fresh and new. "I'm the Doctor. I'm a time traveler. Everything I told you twelve years ago, and everything Rose has told you is true. She's real. I'm real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go right now, everything you've ever known is over."

Amy looked at him, calculating, and then at Rose, who nodded slowly in agreement.

"Alright," she said softly. And she unlocked the car. "What do we do?"

"Stop that nurse," the Doctor told her, unlocking himself and taking off across the parking lot, once again dragging Rose with him. He hopped over a little chain gate, pausing momentarily as Rose tripped over it, and ran into the park and straight to a man in a nurse's uniform and grabbed his phone, right out of his hand, and kept running. Rose looked over her shoulder. "Sorry!" She called to Rory, who looked absolutely stunned.

"But you're…"

The Doctor looked at the picture he'd taken and then marched right back to the nurse, twisting Rose around again and pulling her back. "The sun's going out," he said, "And you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?"

"You're not real!" he cried, pointing at Rose in confusion.

Amy caught up to them just now and grabbed Rory's arm. "Hi!"

"Amy!" He said in surprise and she smiled at him before looking at the Doctor.

"Oh, this is Rory. He's a….friend," she said finally and Rory tilted his head, smiling.

"Boyfriend."

"Kind of boyfriend," she corrected and Rose felt bad for Rory, whose face fell.

"Amy!" He chastised, but the Doctor cut him off.

"Man and a dog. Why?"

Rory looked up, looked at the Doctor, looked at the Doctor's clothes, and finally at Rose and the Doctor's joined hands. "Oh, my God. It's him."

"Just answer the question, please!" Amy said, turning red.

"It's him, though! The raggedy Doctor!"

"Yeah, it is! He came back."

"But he was a story, a game, he was-"

"Rory!" Rose exclaimed, cutting him off. "Man and dog, why?"

He shook his head. "Yeah, right. Sorry. But he can't be there because he's"

"In a hospital, in a coma," the Doctor and Rory finished together and the nurse nodded.

"Yeah."

The Doctor smiled broadly, elbowing Rose. "Knew it. Multi-form, y'see? Disguise itself as anything, but needs a live feed, a psychic link with a living, but dormant mind." During his little explanation, he had walked closer to Rory – his left hand still behind him, attached to Rose's right – and began touching his head. On the last two words, he poked him, right in the space between his eyebrows, and Rose giggled. This regeneration seemed to have an obsession with touching things, which she supposed was better than licking them.

The creature behind them began to bark, but it was the man barking, not the dog. Rose's eyes widened. The Doctor turned and took two steps forward, placing him about a foot in front of Rose, facing the creature, which was probably 3 meters away. Maybe less.

"Prisoner Zero," he said confidently, ignoring Rory behind him, who was babbling that none of this was supposed to be real, that it was all just a game, and why could he see Amy's childhood imaginary friends?

The Doctor looked up at the sky, and Rose did too, gasping when she saw it. There was a ship up there, it looked a bit like a really big snowflake, she thought with a small grin.

"See that? That ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology," the Doctor told Prisoner Zero. Rose noticed that he had discreetly pulled out his sonic and was slowly sliding it on. "And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver." And with that, he turned it on, the blue light blinking on and off weakly, but still working, and held it up in the air proudly.

Every light in the park went out and the glass shattered in all of them, raining down in the grass. And then all of the cars and motorcycles nearby began to honk their horns and make noise, flashing their headlights. There was a firetruck that began to drive away all by itself, the firemen chasing after it in confusion.

Rose cover her mouth with her free hand to stop the laughter bubbling up. The Doctor grinned at her, still holding his sonic up in the air. "I think someone's gonna notice," he told Prisoner Zero, "Don't you, Rose?"

The creature began to bark again, but the Doctor just smiled and pointed the sonic at the red telephone box, but it sort of exploded and he dropped the screwdriver onto the grass, yelling at it.

"No, no, no, don't do that!" He yelled at the destroyed chunk of metal, angry.

"Look, it's going!" cried some man from the park, pointing up at the sky.

Rose looked up,, and sure enough, the ship was turning the other way. "No! Come back! He's right here!" she yelled, pointing at the prisoner. But the ship was gone.


	21. The Eleventh Hour: part 4

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW  
Book of the update: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan**

Chapter 21

The Doctor ran up to the house, pulling Rose along with him (he still hadn't released her hand – not that she minded, not at all) and didn't even knock, just opened the door and ran inside.

"Rude!" She chastised, grinning, but he just clicked his tongue at her and turned sharply down another hallway, swinging open a bedroom door to reveal a man, Rose recognized him as Mrs. O'Brenton's grandson, Jeff, sitting on the bed with his laptop.

"Hello! Laptop, give me," the Doctor commanded, dropping Rose's hand for the very first time to reach out and take it from him, ignoring Jeff's protests. He looked at the screen and then looked back at Jeff, his face shocked. "Blimey! Get a girlfriend, Jeff," he muttered before sitting down on the bed and starting to work on the laptop.

Jeff looked up at Rose, who had her arms crossed, a disgusted look on her face. His own face was a bit red.

Someone opened the door and Rose jumped back a bit to get out of the way as Mrs. O'Brenton opened the door. "What are you doing?" she asked the Doctor.

"The Sun's gone wibbly-wobbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's gonna be a big old video conference call." He looked down at the screen again, typing things and clicking buttons. "All the experts in the world panicking at once and do you know what they need? Me. Ah! And here they all are," he said with a smile, looking down at the screen.

Rose walked over and sat beside him, looking at it. He began pointing out names to her. "NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore."

"Oh, I like Patrick Moore," said Mrs. O'Brenton and the Doctor winked at her.

"I'll get you his number. Better watch him though, he's a devil."

Six different faces appeared on the screen; the six people in the video conference call. The Doctor was about to become the seventh.

"But you can't just hack in on a call like that!" Jeff said, and Rose laughed.

"Just you watch, Jeff."

The Doctor flashed his psychic paper at the webcam, and at once, they could all see him.

"Who are you? This is a secure call, what are you doing here?" the one in the bottom right asked and the Doctor gave a little wave.

"Hello, Gentlemen. I know, you should switch me off. But before you do, watch this." He began to type rapidly, and everyone in the call looked at their own screens, saying they'd gotten it, whatever it was. "Fermat's theorem," the Doctor said, "and the proof. And I mean the real one, never been seen before. Poor old Fermat, got killed in a duel before he could write it all down." He looked up guiltily, "My fault. I slept in. Oh, and here's an oldie but a goodie – why electrons have mass. And a personal favorite of mine, faster-than-light travel with two diagrams and a joke." He pressed a final key with a flourish and looked up at Rose. "How about that?"

She was stunned. She'd gotten her A-levels in the parallel world, along with quite a bit of special Torchwood education and she'd taken several classes during her time here in Leadworth, and she knew that this was big information. _Big_ information.

"Look at your screens," he told them, "Whoever I am, I'm a genius. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention."

He pulled out Rory's phone and began typing things again, and Rose just leaned her chin on her hands on her knees and watched him.

"Sir," said someone on the call, Rose didn't know who, "What are you doing?"

"I'm writing a computer virus," he told them, "Very clever, super-fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on," he warned, shaking his finger at them. "Why am I writing it on a phone? Never mind; you'll find out," he told them, winking at Rose. She was reminded of the first time they'd been to the parallel world, when he'd stopped the Cybermen with her phone. With Mickey's help, of course.

"Alright, now, I'm sending this to all your computers. Get everyone who works for you sending this everywhere. Email, text, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish. Whatever you've got. Any questions?"

"Who's your lady friend?"

The Doctor looked at Rose and then back at the screen, subtly scooting closer to her, a bit possessively. "Patrick, behave."

"What does this virus do?"

"It's a reset command, that's all. It resets counters. It gets in the Wi-Fi and resets every counter it can find. And clocks, calendars, anything with a chip will default at zero at exactly the same time."

They all looked uneasy and did nothing. "They don't trust you," Rose murmured and he blinked.

"Right. Of course. Why should you trust me? I could be lying. I'm not, but I could be. Well. I'm going to let my best man here explain." Silence. "Jeff," he whispered, "You're my best man."

"Your what?"

He shut the laptop partially and looked at him. "Listen to me. In ten minutes, you're going to be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen will be offering you any job you want. But first," he said, clapping Jeff's shoulder, "You have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff, right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."

Jeff stuttered for a moment, unsure what to say, but then decided on "Why me?"

The Doctor grinned. "It's your bedroom." He handed him the laptop. "Now, go, go, go."

And then he took Rose's hand and was out the door. Rose popped her head back in briefly to say, "Delete your internet history," with a raised eyebrow, and then they were gone.

DOCTOR WHO

Rose clambered up the ladder after the Doctor, a bit slower and much more cautiously than he had. When she reached the top, she ducked in through the window to see the Doctor facing a woman and two children, all holding hands.

"….if I am to die, let there be fire," the woman said with a gruesome smile and Rose hopped in and landed on her feet, making a dull thud.

"Okay," the Doctor said, turning his head the slightest fraction to look at Rose and smile before turning back to the creature. "You came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave."

"I did not open the crack," the creature said and Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Then who did?" she asked, and it looked at her.

"The cracks in the skin of the universe. Don't you know where they came from?" it asked mockingly, "The Doctor doesn't know, but does his Bad Wolf?" Rose's eyes widened and she saw the Doctor flinch at the mention of that name. "You don't, do you?" the creature asked, tauntingly. "Ha! The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

There was a clicking, crackling noise and the Doctor grinned. "And we're off! Look at that." He pointed to the clock, which now read 0:00. "Look at that! Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing?"

The creature made a hissing sort of noise. "What?"

"They're telling everybody a word, all the same word," Rose answered, stepping up next to the Doctor and linking her hand with his.

"Exactly," he said, squeezing her hand gently, "And do you know what the word is? The word is zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battle ship, monitoring all communications on earth, I'd probably take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able to track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Rory's phone, holding it up for the prisoner to see. "The source, by the way, is right here." Light suddenly shone in through the windows of the hospital room and the Doctor cheered, looking around. "Oh! And I think they just found it!"

"The Atraxi are limited," said Prisoner Zero, using the woman's voice again, "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."

"Yeah," said the Doctor, "but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of?" the creature seemed a bit nervous, but stood its ground. The Doctor turned to look at Rose, standing beside him. "Rose, what is this phone full of?"

"Pictures," she answered, catching on. "Pictures of you." The last part was directed at Prisoner Zero.

"Every form you've learned to take, right here, right now. Ooh, and being uploaded about now," the Doctor added, looking down at the phone. "And the final score is no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare. Who da man?" he flung his arms out wide, releasing Rose's hand.

She pulled it up to cover her mouth, trying not to laugh. The Doctor looked around at everyone and then put his arms down. "Ooh, yes. I'm never saying that again. Fine."

The creature kept right on with the conversation, ignoring his little outburst. "Then I shall take a new form."

"Stop it," he laughed, "You know you can't. Takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

The creature smiled gruesomely. "And I've had _years_."

It began to glow red and Rose collapsed where she stood, falling to the floor beside him. He dropped to his knees. "Rose! No! Rose?" he took her face in his hands, his voice frantic. "You've got to hold on. Rose! No, no, no, don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please!"

Rory slapped his back, pointing and he looked up. It was him. The way he used to be, with fabulous hair and a brown suit. Prisoner Zero had gone into Rose's mind and rifled through her memories and picked _him_. But then it morphed. He sat up, looking at it in confusion.

It was a man, taller than he had been, with sort of floppy brown hair and a big chin. He wore a practically destroyed button down shirt that was partly untucked and a swirly tie with burn holes in it.

"Well that's rubbish," he said, looking at it, "Who's that supposed to be?"

"It's you," Rory told him and he blinked.

"Me? Is that what I look like?" he looked down at himself briefly and then up at Rory, who seemed bewildered.

"You don't know?" Amy asked in confusion, "How could you not know?"

"Busy day," he defended, still cradling Rose's head in his lap. "Why me, though? You're linked with her. Why are you copying me?"

"I'm not," it said and his blood ran cold. It was Rose's voice….except it wasn't. It was Prisoner Zero. It stepped out from behind him, holding his hand. "Poor Rose Tyler," it said, looking down at her body on the floor, "dreaming of her precious Doctor, who always comes to save her. But he's left her behind. You've become such a disappointment to her."

The Doctor's jaw twitched and for a moment, he seemed to believe what the creature said. But then he looked down at the real Rose Tyler, lying in his arms, and he knew it was just lies. "No. She's dreaming about me because she can hear me." he cupped her face again, leaning down close to her. "Rose, don't just hear me, listen. Remember the room? The room in Amy's house that had a perception filter? She told me you went inside. Rose, please, dream about what you saw."

"No, no, no!" cried Rose – that is to say, Prisoner Zero – as the creature that had taken the form of Rose and her precious Doctor disappeared, and was replaced by the most disgusting, un-beautiful alien he had ever seen. It looked a bit like a snake, but with huge fangs and slime everywhere.

"Well done Prisoner Zero," the Doctor said from on the floor, not wanting to leave Rose's side until she woke up. "A perfect impersonation of yourself."

A spotlight shone through the window, landing right on the creature. "_Prisoner Zero is located_," called the voice of the guard, "_Prisoner Zero is restrained_."

The snake-alien-prisoner hissed at him. "Ssssilence, Doctor. Sssssilence will fall." There was a flash, and it was gone.

"No!" He cried, gently putting Rose's head on the floor and bounding over to the window, looking up.

"Has it gone?" came a foggy-sounding voice from behind him. Rose.

"Yes, Rose, it's gone. It's alright," he soothed, running to her and patting her hair awkwardly, but she pushed him away.

"But that thing – the Atoxic or whatever – they were going to destroy the whole world! You can't just let them get away with it!" she was outraged, and quite rightly so.

He stood up, helped her to her feet, pulled out Rory's phone, dialing a number.

"But, the sun…it's back to normal. That's good, yes?" Rory asked, sounding confused, "That means it's over."

"Yeah," Amy said proudly, "The Doctor did it."

"No I didn't."

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Tracking the signal back. Sorry in advance," the Doctor said, holding the phone up in the air.

"About what?"

Rose grimaced. "That's gonna be one helluva bill," she muttered, thinking back to the bill Jackie'd gotten from Rose's call from the year 5 billion.

"Oi!" The Doctor yelled into the phone, "I didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully-established, level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no one was watching? You lot, back here, now." he turned off the phone and threw it to Rory.

"Okay. Now I've done it."

Rose laughed and wrapped her arm around his, leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked down the hall. "Thank you."

"Uh, did he just bring them back? Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?" Rory called after them in confusion.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked, running to catch up with them. The Doctor flung open the doors in front of him dramatically.

"The roof." He saw a door and ducked in there, saying, "No. Hang on."

Rory and Amy followed him, shutting the door behind them. The Doctor let go of Rose's arm and began to pick up shirts everywhere, throwing them back down onto the floor again when they didn't take to his liking.

"What's in here, then?" she asked, laughing as she caught the plaid shirt he flung over his shoulder.

"I'm saving the world," he explained, throwing more shirts and ties over his shoulder, "I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show!" he had narrowed it down to about 4 shirts and a handful of ties, so he just dropped everything he was holding onto the floor and began to take off the ruined, swirly tie he was wearing.

"You just summoned aliens back to earth," Rory said, trying to get the Doctor's attention. He wasn't even looking at him, facing the other way. "Actual aliens, deadly aliens." The Doctor began to unbutton his shirt. "Aliens of death, and now you're….taking your clothes off." The Doctor's shirt was gone. No shirt. "Amy, he's taking his clothes off."

The Doctor laughed at him. "Turn your back if it embarrasses you," he said, trying on a black shirt and then taking it off just as quickly.

"Are you stealing clothes now?" Rory asked, becoming uncomfortable, and Rose had to stifle a giggle. "Those clothes belong to people, you know….." he trailed off and turned around.

Amy and Rose did not. Rory, seeming jealous, grabbed Amy and spun her around so she wouldn't look. Rose saw her roll her eyes, but she complied, probably to keep her kind-of-boyfriend happy.

"Are you not going to turn your back?" Rory hissed at Rose, who smirked.

"Not a chance."

The Doctor turned his head and winked at her, though his cheeks were tinged with red.

He finally decided on a sort of reddish-pink shirt with stripes on the wrists and suspenders clipped to his pants, and three or four ties thrown around his neck, untied. He also had abandoned the white Chucks for a sturdy pair of brown leather shoes, claiming that the sneakers were too small.

"Time to go," he said, spinning around and grabbing Rose's hand, dragging her back through the room, Amy and Rory following. He stopped for a moment, to grab a jacket and he gave it to Rose. "Hold that, would you? Thanks."

And then they were walking down the hall again and he was smiling and she was laughing and Amy was smirking and Rory was fussing and then they were on the roof. And there was an eye. There was a ship, one of the snowflakey things they'd seen before, and an eyeball at the very center, looking right at them.

The Doctor walked right up to it, pulling Rose with him, and looked it right in the eye.

"But they were leaving! Wasn't that good?" Amy asked, and the Doctor gave a short laugh.

"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better. Come ooooon then!" he yelled up at the ship, "The Doctor will see you now!"

Rose jumped back the tiniest bit as the eye swooped down from the ship, stopping maybe 3 meters from them. The eye sent out some sort of scan right over the Doctor, who was pulling his suspenders up over his shoulders, and it passed over Rose as well, though she guessed that the main intention was scanning the Doctor.

"_You are not of this world_," said the voice from the eye after the scan was complete. It sounded like the guard.

"No, but I've put a lot of work into it," he said, adjusting the suspenders. He picked up two of the ties around his neck and compared them. "I don't know. What do you think?" he asked, showing them to Rose, who wrinkled her nose. "No, I didn't think so either." He took them both off and threw them behind him to Rory.

"_Is this world important_?"

"Important?" Rose cried, outraged. "Of course it's important! What the hell does that even mean, '_is this world important?_'!"

"Six billion people live her, is that important?" the Doctor asked, backing her up. "But here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Well, come on, you're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?"

The eye created a projection of the whole earth and watched it rotate.

"_No_."

"Are the people of this world guilty of any crimes by the laws of the Atraxi?"

The eye changed the projection. Now it was a live feed of humans. Humans all over the planet, all at once, just being _human_.

"_No_."

"Okay," the Doctor announced, "One more. Just one. Is this world protected?"

Images and videos of aliens trying to invade the earth flashed before their eyes. The Cybermen. The Daleks. Sycorax. Gelth. Slitheen. And many more that Rose couldn't name.

"Because you're not the first to have come here," the Doctor said, "Oh, there have been so many! And what you've got to ask is…what happened to them?" he took the coat from Rose and pulled it on, still fiddling with the one remaining tie.

Images flashed before their eyes. Faces. Different faces, but all belonging to one man.

That man stepped forward and broke through the projection, Rose a step behind at his side. "Hello. I'm the Doctor." He smirked. "Basically….run."

The eye shot back into its socket on the ship and the snowflake's blades began to spin, like a helicopter. And it ran away. All the way up to the clouds. And then it was gone, never to return.

The Doctor turned to Rose. "There we are. Can you tie a bowtie?"

She raised an eyebrow. "A bowtie?"

"Yes."

She released his hand and reached up, tying the red tie into a perfect bow and tucking his collar down over it. "There," she said, straightening it, "Bowties are cool."

He grinned, but it disappeared when she frowned and put a hand to her neck. "Ah! It's hot!" she picked up her TARDIS key by the chain, showing it to him. It was glowing gold.

"Is that it? Is that them gone for good? Who were they?" Amy asked, but the Doctor and Rose had already gone, sprinting through the hospital and back to Amy's house to their TARDIS.

"Okay," the Doctor said when they'd reached her, "What have you got for us this time?"

Rose unlocked the door and swung it open, laughing when she saw the inside. "It's gorgeous!"

"Oh, look at you," the Doctor said, looking around his beloved ship, "oh, you sexy thing. Look at you!" and he shut the door and ran to the console, eager to try out all of the new buttons and twirly thingies and bells.

And the TARDIS began the dematerialization sequence, leaving a very sad, very confused Amy Pond just outside. Again.

DOCTOR WHO

"Who the bloody hell is he?"

"Donna Noble!" He cried, rushing into the living room and sweeping her up into a hug.

"What?!"

"He's the Doctor," Rose told her, laughing.

"What?!"

"I'm the Doctor!"

"_What_?!"

The Doctor finally set her down and grinned at her. "Do you like it? The face? The hair? The bowtie?"

Donna looked back and forth between the two of them. "Will somebody please tell me what the _bloody_ _hell_ is goin on?!"

"I've regenerated," the Doctor explained to her, "It's a Time Lord thing, what we do when we're about to die. 'S perfectly normal!" He grinned at her, bouncing on his heels.

Rose took pity on poor spluttering Donna and began to explain a bit more, "It's like, when a Time Lord's gonna die, every cell in their body changes, and they become this whole new person. But not really. On the inside, he's still just the same old Doctor," she stepped up beside him and laced her fingers with his, poking his chest with her other hand, "in here."

Donna blinked, absorbing the information. "Right. So while I was here, sleeping, you ran off and got yourself killed and turned into a different person?"

The Doctor waved, grinning sheepishly. "Hello."

She stared at him for a minute before launching herself at him in a hug, causing him to stumble back and release Rose's hand, caught off guard. He wrapped his arms around her, smiling.

"Oh, don't you ever run off and do that again, Spaceman! You're like my baby brother; don't go around changing your face while I'm not there, alright?"

He nodded, a bit unsure about the baby brother comparison, and set her down. "Yes, Donna, absolutely. Now then," he opened the TARDIS doors with a flourish, "Shall we?" and hopped inside, followed by Rose and then by Donna.

"Oh, you've changed this, too!" she hollered, "What else's happened?" she asked with her hands on her hips and Rose and the Doctor exchanged guilty looks.

"Well…." He started, but Rose cut him off.

"Oh no! Amy! You've left her – again!"

His head snapped up. "Oops." And he ran to the console, pulling knobs and twisting springs and ignoring Donna, who was shouting behind him,

"Who's Amy? Did I miss something, _again_?!"

**A/N Updates will be sporadic and few in the next week or so due to midterms and then holidays, sorry.**


	22. Amy in the TARDIS

**A/N I don't own DW or the BBC.**

**Book of the Update: Paper Towns by John Green**

Chapter 22

They watched her step into the TARDIS and look around, eyes wide and mouth slightly open.

"Well?" the Doctor asked her. "Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all." His voice was calm, but Rose could practically feel the excitement radiating from him as he bounced on the balls of his feet, watching Amy for a reaction.

Amy, however, was in no state to be answering questions. She was still wearing her nightie; must've just woken up. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was hanging open as she looked around, trying to take it all in.

"Ye alright?" Rose asked, standing up and walking over to her. "It's a lot to take in, I know," she told her sympathetically, but the girl didn't even seem to process what she'd said.

"I…..I'm in my nightie," she said finally, faintly.

Rose threw her head back and laughed, rubbing Amy's arm consolingly. "S'alright. You can borrow something of mine. Or go looking through the TARDIS's wardrobe, there's plenty of clothes in there."

"And," the Doctor said loudly from up by the console, "possibly, a swimming pool."

"A swimming pool!" Donna cried out, making Amy jump, startled. "What's a swimming pool doin' in the wardrobe?"

"Who're you?" Amy asked, looking quite a lot like a scared deer looking right into someone's headlights.

Donna stood up and offered her hand for Amy to shake. "Donna Noble."

Amy took it, looking a bit dazed. "Amy Pond."

"Donna's the friend I had to go back for," the Doctor piped up, a bit sheepishly, "why I was a tad bit late."

"A tad bit? How late are we?" Rose asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

He rubbed the back of his neck, the wiring on the console suddenly seeming very interesting. "Ohhh, two years….? I mean, not really that bad, if you think, last time it was 12. Lost ten this time."

Rose's mouth hung open, her eyes sad. "Oh Amy," she told her, "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah," she said, "It's not really…..yeah."

"So! All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will…where do you want to start?"

At that, Amy seemed to recover her powers of speech. She marched up the steps to the console and stopped right in from of the Doctor, hands on her hips. "You are so sure that I'm coming. Why?" She demanded, and he only laughed, twirling around the console and pulling levers.

"Cause you're the Scottish girl in the English village, and I know how that feels."

"Oh, do you?" she asked, leaning against the railing, her arms crossed.

"All of these years living here most of your life, and you've still got that accent? Yeah, you're coming," he crooned, pointing at her. He spun around 360* and dinged a bell on the console in front of him, smiling with glee.

Rose couldn't help but laugh at how much fun he was having.

"Could you get me back for tomorrow morning?"

"It's a time machine," Rose said at the same time the Doctor said, "I can get you back for five minutes ago." They both said "Why?" simultaneously and their eyes met, eyebrows raised.

Amy looked back and forth between the two of them before she answered, "Nothing. Nothing! Just, you know…stuff," she said a bit too innocently.

Donna elbowed Rose, a silent question in her eyes. Rose shrugged, looking back at Amy and the Doctor.

"All right," he said slowly, "back in time for _stuff_."

There was a warbly beeping noise and something popped up from the console, unnoticed by the Doctor, who was messing around with the bell again.

"Doctor, your sonic," Rose prodded, hopping over and plucking it out herself, playing with it for a moment. "Ooh, I like it. Green. 'S a nice color," she said, tossing it to him.

He caught it deftly with his left hand – so this Doctor was left handed, was he? – and switched a button, scanning the air beside him. "Lovely. Thanks, dear," he added, patting the console.

Rose looked down and saw an array of new gadgets and buttons on the console; lots of things she didn't recognize.

"Is that a typewriter?" Donna asked from behind her and Rose looked down.

Sure enough, a black typewriter was fastened to the metal of the console, paper included. Rose laughed as the Doctor let out an exuberant "Yes!" and used his hip to push her out of the way, pressing all of the keys and smiling at the beepy noises they made.

Amy looked up at the ceiling – or rather, lack of, since the TARDIS had conveniently set up a seemingly endless view of the stars above them – and gasped, turning sharply on her heel. "Why me?"

"Why not?"

"No seriously. It's a fair question," she said, "since you're asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. Why?"

"Do I have to have a reason?"

"People always have a reason."

"Do I look like people?"

"Yes," she answered sharply, and the Doctor's face fell. That was not what little Amelia had answered.

"You seem nice enough. Good in a crisis. And Rose certainly has taken a liking to you."

"I would have, Doctor, in twelve years," Rose said indignantly, hands on her hips. He flinched, and she immediately felt bad. That had crossed a line. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, but he acted as if he hadn't heard a thing she'd said, fiddling with the new console.

"You're taking me anywhere in time and space because you think I'm nice enough and because someone I've known _since I was 7_ has befriended me?" Amy asked incredulously and the Doctor ran his teeth over his lip, his eyes darting to Rose briefly.

"Err…yes?" he answered, though it sounded more like a question.

"Just that?"

"Just that. Promise."

She studied him for a minute, and Rose found herself anxiously biting her lip before Amy replied. "Okay."

"Lovely," the Doctor said, smiling broadly. He took a few steps to the right and hooked his arm around Rose's elbow, leading her down the steps, saying over his shoulder, "I've got to do a few scans on Rose – won't take a moment," he finished with a cheery smile, heading down the corridor with Rose latched onto his arm, leaving Amy and Donna alone, an awkward silence looming between them.

"So…." Donna said after a while, walking over to stand by Amy, who was looking up at the starry ceiling. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, watching the girl for a reaction. "I know it can be….it makes your head feel all wobbly for a while, and His Lordship back there," she nodded toward the corridor, snickering, "hasn't been taking notice of anyone besides Rose lately."

Amy laughed, breathily, but she still looked like an asthmatic child who'd lost their inhaler. "Are they….?" She trailed off, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

Donna smirked. "I don't think so, but I caught him coming out of her room once or twice. Not like this, mind you. Back when he was all…" she waved her hand in the air, looking for a word. After a second or two, she gave up. "D'ya want to get some clothes from the wardrobe?"

"The wardrobe with the pool in it?"

"Didn't have a pool the las time I was here," Donna muttered, already headed down the corridor, Amy quickly running to catch up with her. She didn't want to get lost in the seemingly endless hallways and rooms on this thing.

DOCTOR WHO

"No, no, no!" the Doctor shouted, frustrated. "Why won't you do as I say?" he demanded, pounding the wall with his fist. "I'm trying to help her! You love Rose too; don't you want me to help!"

The machine in front of him sparked in answer and he groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Everything all right in here?" Rose asked, popping her head around the doorway. "I heard shouting."

"She won't tell me anything!"

"You know she doesn't like it when you yell at her," Rose told him, ever the voice of reason.

"Well I don't like it when she can't give me a straight answer," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms and glaring at the futuristic DNA scanner thingy that Rose knew next to nothing about.

"Doctor," she said firmly, "It's fine. I'm fine. You'll figure it out later, yeah?"

"No, Rose," he said, and his eyes were truly troubled and dark. "It's not alright. What if this is harming you? What if it's…..I can't let you get hurt," he admitted in a choked voice, "I cannot lose you again, Rose Tyler."

She stepped fully into the room and took his hands in hers. "You won't. I promise. I said forever, yeah? Nothing's gonna change that. You're stuck with me," she said playfully, bopping him on the nose with each word.

He didn't smile.

Her face fell and her hands reached up to cup his face, thumbs tugging the corners of his mouth upward until he finally smiled, laughing. "There. That's better," she said, reaching up and pressing a small kiss to his smiling mouth.

"Rose," he said quietly, "Rose Marion Tyler."

"Yes?" she breathed, looking up at him, still just inches away.

"Do you love me?"

She blinked, taken aback. "Yes, I-"

"Why?" he demanded, his eyes cold and hard.

"'Scuse me?" she asked, bewildered.

"Why do you love me? How _can_ you love me? I left you behind, Rose. I left you behind for twelve years. All alone. I'm the reason you've got no one left in this universe. It was my fault. Everything. Everything was my fault. I…..I go and change my face on you, again, and you just accept it. I've ruined your life, Rose, don't deny it. I've ruined your life and you've fallen in love with me. How? That's not possible," his voice cracked as he broke down, eyes still hard and unrelenting, but now more raw and broken. She'd seen those eyes before. Just not on this face.

"Shhh," she soothed, reaching up to stroke his face. "It's alright, Doctor. Yeah, you left me behind. S'not like you've never done that before. Twelve years. I'm upset, I really am, but it's not like I just sat around and moped, waiting for you. I had a life, I …I went back to school, I had a job, I rented a house…..ate beans on toast," she joked, smiling with her tongue in her teeth, getting a weak grin out of him. "And I knew, when I left," she continued, serious again, "I knew when I left that parallel world that I wouldn't be going back. I said my goodbyes. I hadn't planned on mum following me. But she did, and….that's alright. A last chance to see her. But I'm not a kid anymore; I'm all grown up now. I'm gonna miss her, yeah, but she's better off with Pete and Tony. And I've got you. All of you. Big ears or fluffy hair or bowties, I've got you. It's just a part of who I am. I am Rose Tyler, and I am in love with a daft alien who runs around in a blue box. I am Rose Tyler, and I am in love with the Doctor. I'm in love with _you_."

She smiled up at him with stars in her eyes and he knew. He knew that she _meant_ every word she said and she _always would_. Just as she'd said.

And she looked so perfect, gazing up at him as if he were the entire world to her, as if he were the best thing in existence, so could anyone blame him when he had her backed against the sleek metallic walls of the medbay, peppering her face with kisses and letting his lips roam down her neck and his hips press tightly against hers, telling her how much he loved her and how amazing she was with every touch of his lips. And when he ran out of words in her language, he began to use his own, to use enchanting words that rolled off of his tongue like silk and curled around her body, bringing love and awe to one Rose Tyler.

And then his mouth was on hers, kissing, biting, sucking, tasting, _loving_. And she whimpered and twirled her fingers deeper into his hair, nails raking against his scalp and he had to reach around her back and hold her up when the wall was no longer enough. And he was curved over her, every inch of his body pressed along hers, and then she moaned and wrapped one leg around his waist and his ears turned scarlet, so could anyone blame him when he brushed his mind against hers lightly, shivering at the emotions the contact awoke deep in his soul. And she whimpered, holding him tighter, and he completely lost control, diving into her mind, letting her essence surround him and it was absolutely fantastic. Brilliant. _Molto bene_. Wonderful.

But then she gasped and pulled her mouth away from his, and reality came crashing back and he shot back into his own mind faster than lightning, stammering apologies and excuses and-

"Were you _inside my head_?" Rose asked, still panting from their heated kiss.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been…I mean, I just got carried away, and it really should not have-"

"Why?"

"I'm sorry?" he asked, meeting her eyes for the first time since she'd broken the kiss.

"Why? Why did you want to?" She didn't look angry, he noted. Just…curious. Given her reaction when she'd found out that the TARDIS was inside her head, he'd expected fury. Instead, he got adorable curious eyes that made it hard to think straight.

"Well, it's sort of like a…err, on Gallifrey, we….there was this thing, a sort of….bond, and it was….." he trailed off, looking at her lips, still red and swollen. Her leg was still wrapped around his waist and her fingers were still twisted in his hair. It was rather distracting, all put together. He hastily looked away and cleared his throat. Let's not encourage thoughts of that nature right now, Doctor. "Never mind. It's nothing," he lied, kissing the top of her head.

"Doctor?" Rose asked quietly after a moment.

"Mmm?"

"Could you tell me about Gallifrey?"

He gently pushed her leg down to the floor and moved his hands away from her back, setting her firmly on the ground once more. "Donna and Amy are probably waiting for us. We'd better go."

He walked out of the room and she sighed, straightened her clothes and smoothed down her hair. "Right." And she followed him.

**A/N Okay, this really sucks and I am literally **_**crying**_** right now, because this was like the **_**one file**_** that my computer didn't save. The first time I wrote this chapter, I would not have hesitated to say that it was one of the best things I've ever written, fanfiction or otherwise. It was 3,750 something words of absolute **_**brilliance**_**. It wasn't copied from the episode. It wasn't a bunch of useless fluff. It wasn't obnoxiously OOC and inexplicable. There was substance to it and it made sense and flowed beautifully and I was crying and laughing and making noises as I wrote it. I f***ing did **_**research**_** to make this the best possible chapter and ****it **_**was**_**, and it resolved like 75% of y'all's questions and there was cute-but-serious Doctor/Rose conversations and a few really good kisses and there was character development for Donna and there was even vague mentions of telepathic bonds and an entire conversation about the Doctor's family on Gallifrey and there was a fantastic kiss pressed up against the wall of the medbay and there was the TARDIS being sassy to the Doctor and I tried to recreate it but I failed; I absolutely, completely, incorrigibly **_**failed**_**. Now, it's short and shit and I'm sorry. And pissed. Sorry, pissed, and crying.**

**And also I am extremely sorry about that whole 'how do you love me' conversation; that really sucks. It's cliché and OOC this time around. I tried to make it like it was the first time, but it sucks now. And I didn't want to just take it out, y'know?**

**If I somehow manage to miraculously recover the file, I will notify y'all at once and replace this. Because I hate this. This is like comparing a rock to the sun, the sun being the original file and the rock being this one. I hate this one. You have no idea how much it kills me to post this.**


	23. The Beast Below part 1

**A/N I don't own BBC or DW**

**Book of the update: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan**

Chapter 23

"It's a spaceship," Amy said, looking out over the stars through the open door. "Your box is really, really a spaceship. Okay. Yeah, now I believe you. We are in space!" she yelled out the door, adding a whoop for effect.

"What are we breathing?" Donna asked and the Doctor looked over her shoulder and up at the stars.

"I've extended the airshell. We're fine." He looked down, and his eyebrows raised. "Now that's interesting," he murmured, looking at the huge metal ship floating just below them. He straightened up and hopped over to the console, talking all the way. "29th century. Solar flares roast the earth, remember, Rose? That was our first date. We had chips," he added, winking at her before he continued, "Anyway, the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves." He ducked down, turning some gizmo under the console and then straightened up again, pulling knobs and spinning wheels.

"Doctor?"

"…migrating to the stars," he continued, not hearing Amy calling his name.

"Doctor?"

"Isn't that amazing?"

"Doctor!" he finally looked up to see Rose and Donna holding onto Amy's ankles as she herself was somewhere in space, trying in vain to pull her back inside the TARDIS.

"Well come on! Get down from there, Pond, I've found us a spaceship."

He reached up and grabbed her ankle, pulling her down with ease, and then ran up the steps again to look out the porthole that the TARDIS had conveniently put there moments before.

"This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland," he explained to the girls all peering over his shoulder out the porthole. "all of it bolted together and flying in the sky."

"Oh my god, that's amazing," Rose breathed, staring out the widow with wide eyes. "And that's the entire country, not just a part of it?"

He nodded and bopped her on the nose. "Correct. Starship UK. It's Britain," he told them all, "but metal. That's not just a ship. That's an idea; that's a whole country, just as you said, living and laughing, and….."

"Shopping?" Donna asked, noticing a building similar looking to her mum's favorite shop back home.

"Shopping," he agreed, "and searching the stars for a new home."

Amy bounced on her heels, grinning from ear to ear. "Can we go out and see?"

"Course we can!" the Doctor told her, walking over to the console. "but first there's a thing."

"A thing?"

"An important thing. In fact, thing one, we are observers only," he told her, raising a big magnifying glass to his eye, "That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels."

Donna snorted and he glared at her, only half serious.

"I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets," he went on and Rose giggled. He turned his eyes on her, pointing his finger. "Now, don't you start. Ooh, that's interesting," he said, looking beyond her at the scanner, which showed a little girl in a red sweater, sitting on a bench. She was crying.

"What's happened to her?" Rose asked quietly, but the Doctor didn't answer.

"So…..we're like a wildlife documentary?" Amy asked, hopping over to look at the scanner. "'Cause if they see like a wounded little cub or something, then they can't just save it, they've gotta keep filming, and…let it die," her voice sort of faded out as she watched the little girl, metaphorically the cub, cry on the bench. No one was stopping to help her, or even ask what's wrong. "That's got to be hard."

"I don't think I could do that," Donna agreed, her face filling with concern for the child.

"Don't you find that hard, being all like, detached and cold?" Amy asked, but her question was soon answered when the Doctor appeared on the scanner, crouching down beside the girl and asking what was wrong, if she was okay.

Rose grinned. "Oh, he is…brilliant."

"Doctor?" Amy asked, still looking at the image of the man himself on the scanner. Speaking of the image on the scanner, he stood up straight and motioned for them to come on, looking right at them. She turned to Rose and Donna.

"Did he…..can he do that?"

Rose just grinned again and shrugged, leading the way out of the TARDIS, but Donna laughed and patted Amy on the arm. "He's rubbish at rules." And then she followed Rose out, leaving a bewildered Amy to follow them, still looking back at the screen.

"_Welcome to London Market_," said a pleasant voice over the speakers when they walked out into what was apparently the London market. "_You are being monitored_."

"Monitored?" Rose asked no one in particular, scrunching up her nose. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm in the future. Like, hundreds of years in the future," Amy said, spinning around and looking at everything. She stopped when her eyes landed on the Doctor and a thought came to her. "I've been dead for centuries."

He frowned. "Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Nevermind dead," he said, placing a hand on her back and leading her around, Donna and Rose trailing behind, "Look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

"Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"

Rose groaned, looking at what appeared to be something like a food court. "They haven't got any chip shops!"

He took his hand off Amy's back and turned to her, walking backwards. "No, but that's rubbish. Wouldn't like to live here, ta. Look again, come on, really look."

She looked around, up at the ceiling, the stars, but nothing seemed all that out of place.

"_London Market is a crime-free zone_," the speakers announced over the din of human beings all around them.

"Life on a giant starship, back to basics," the Doctor said, looking around, "Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer." He began to lead them around again, pointing things out as he spoke. "Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me," and he ran over to a table nearby, where a couple were sitting having their lunch. Or breakfast, or dinner. Whatever time it was. He snatched a glass of water off of the table and set it on the floor, crouched down and watching.

"What are you doing?" the man asked, looking down at him in confusion.

After a moment or two, the Doctor picked up the glass and set it back on the table. "Sorry," he told the couple, "Checking all the water in this area." He stood up and leant close to the woman's face, rubbing his fingers together awkwardly, as if he still wasn't quite sure what to do with this body yet. "There's an escaped fish," he told her confidentially, tapping the side of his nose before turning on his heel and striding back to Amy, Rose, and Donna.

"Where was I?"

"What'd you do that for?" Donna asked, just as bewildered as everyone else.

"Dunno. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state, have any of you seen it yet?"

"What?" Amy asked, at the same time that Rose asked, "Where?" they looked at each other and blinked, but the Doctor was already ahead of them, pointing.

"There." It was the girl, the one in the red sweater. The one who'd been crying. He walked over and sat on one of the benches, a few away from her, and leaned his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands and leaning his chin on his hands.

"One little girl crying," Amy said, not seeing the point. "So?"

The Doctor didn't answer.

"I mean, it's sad, sure, and I feel bad, but what's that got to do with anything?" Donna asked.

"Crying silently," the Doctor told them. "I mean, children cry 'cause they want attention, 'cause they're hurt, or afraid. When they cry silently, it's 'cause they just can't stop. Any parent know that."

"Are you a parent?" Amy asked, her eyebrows raised.

The Doctor said nothing, and Rose took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

"But why isn't anyone helping her?" Donna asked, trying to move the conversation away from the Doctor.

"Exactly. Hundreds of parents walking by, and not one of them asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of."

Something caught Rose's eye and she looked over the Doctor's shoulder at it. It was a box with a dummy inside, like the ones on the fairground that tell fortunes and jokes and things. It seemed a bit out of place here, on a starship in the 29th century. "Doctor," she said, tugging his hand a bit.

"Hmm?"

"What's that thing?"

He turned. "That's interesting." He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Amy, who was looking the other way, the way the little girl had just walked off to. "Here. This fell out of her pocket when I bumped into her. Took me four goes," he said to Rose in a stage whisper and she giggled. "You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Ask her about those things, the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere," he added after looking around.

"But they're just things," Amy said, twisting Mandy's notebook around her fingers.

"They're clean. Everything else on this ship is battered and filthy, but no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of any of them, look. Ask Mandy 'why are people scared of this things in the booths?'"

"No, hang on. What do I do?" Amy protested, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes. "I don't know what I'm doing here!"

He crossed his arms and looked at her. "It's this or Leadworth. Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?" she frowned and flopped back against the bench. He laughed. "Haha, gotcha. Let's see. Meet us back here in half an hour. Actually, you know what? Rose will go with you. She's got this lovely watch, wonderful at keeping time. Go on then, shoo, shoo," he said, ushering them up and away.

"What are you gonna do?" Amy asked, a bit grouchily.

"What I always do," the Doctor replied, mimicking her tone. "Stay out of trouble. Badly." He stood up. "Come on, Donna."

"Oh, who's bossy now," she grumbled under her breath, following him even so.

"So is this how it works, Doctor?" Amy called after him, "You never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"

He grinned, bobbing up and down a bit. "Yes."

Amy smiled back and huffed a little, spinning round and looking at Rose, who only shrugged, a laugh bubbling up in her throat.

DOCTOR WHO

"What's that?" Amy asked Mandy after they finally found her, pointing at a big road sign with caution tape up.

"There's a hole. We have to go back," Mandy said, nervously tapping her notepad against her other hand.

"There's a _hole_?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Are you stupid?" Mandy asked incredulously, "There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way. There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps…." She trailed off, Rose having already walked up to the makeshift orange gate, Amy on her heels. She pushed it aside and began to walk towards the tent that housed this 'hole in the road.'

"What are you doing?" Mandy cried, looking around nervously.

"Oh don't mind us!" Amy said loudly, leaning down to her briefly, "Never could resist a keep out sign."

"What's under the tent?" Rose called back, her hand already reaching for the lock.

"Nobody knows," Mandy said, her voice getting quieter, "We're not supposed to talk about it."

"Oh, and because you're not supposed to, you don't?" Amy questioned, rolling her eyes and walking over to Rose, squatting down beside her and pulling out a bobby pin from some small pocket in her skirt. "Watch and learn," she told them as she set to work on the rusted lock.

"You sound Scottish," Mandy commented, and Rose noted that she was still looking around anxiously, fiddling with the notebook in her hands.

"I am Scottish! What's wrong with that?"

"Scotland's gotta be here somewhere," Rose added quietly, but the girl shook her head.

"No. They wanted their own ship."

Amy grinned. "Good for them. Nothing changes."

"So….if you're from Scotland, how did you get here?"

"Oh, you know," she said, still working on the lock, "Just passing through with some friends."

"And your boyfriend?"

"No, he's just," Amy's hands suddenly stilled on the lock and her face fell. "Oh."

"What's wrong?" Rose asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing. It's just, I'm getting married. Funny how things slip your mind."

"Married?" Mandy cried in astonishment, overhearing them.

"Yeah, shut up, married," Amy laughed tensely. "Really, actually married. Most definitely," she finished, sounding extremely worried. Maybe nervous.

"Congratulations! To Rory?" Rose asked, smiling.

"Yeah. To Rory."

"That's fantastic! When's the wedding?"

"It's kinda weird, to think about it," Amy admitted, her eyebrows raised slightly and her eyes wide, "A long time ago, tomorrow morning."

"_Tomorrow_!" Rose cried, pulling her hands over her mouth. "Amy, but you can't just-"

"I wonder what I've done," Amy cut her off absently, her head (and heart) a million miles away. The lock clicked open. "Hah. Hey, hey, results!" she turned back to Mandy. "Coming?"

"No!"

"Well, suit yourself, then. Rose?"

"Right behind you," she said with a grin, the conversation momentarily forgotten.

"Stop! You mustn't do that!" cried Mandy from behind them, but they ignored her, crawling inside anyways.

It was dark – the only light was from the partly open tent flap, and it kept bouncing all around. Rose squinted, trying to make out anything. There was something…..some sort of….wire, maybe? Suddenly, a light shone on from the box in Amy's hands and Rose gasped, looking at it. It was _not_ a wire.

"Oh, my God!" Amy mumbled, staring at it.

"I think maybe we should go," Rose said quietly, looking at the….tentacle was the only word that described it. It was covered with a heavy red armor and there was a large defensive spike on the end, like a scorpion's tail.

"That's weird," Amy said, ignoring her. They stood up.

"Amy, we really should-" she cut off quickly as the tentacle lunged forward like a snake, its spike pointed right at them. They screamed and fell back as it lunged again. Amy scrambled to her knees, but Rose's jacket had gotten caught on the jagged wire behind them. "Go on! Get out of here! I'm right behind you," she said, tugging on her jacket, trying in vain to yank it free.

With a final fleeting glance, Amy crawled out of the tent, leaving Rose trapped and alone with the tentacle.

"Shhh, shhhh," she said in a soft sing-song voice, "S'alright. I'm a friend, see? Not going to 'urt you." She glanced down at the wire, but she couldn't see anything in the dark of the tent.

There was a quiet hissing noise from outside, followed by a dull thump, and Rose peeked through a hole in the tent fabric behind her, gasping when she saw Amy's limp body being dragged away.

She hastily pulled her arms out of the jacket and scurried away and out of the tent, leaving it behind. She looked around, but Amy and Mandy were nowhere to be seen. Rose was alone. She picked a direction at random and started down it, shivering in only her pink tank top.

There was another muted thud from somewhere vaguely in front of her and she took off running towards the noise, trying and failing to make the slap of her sneakers quieter.

Someone turned around, she could see their eyes reflecting the dull light, and looked right at her, sending chills down her spine. The person turned aside for a moment to say something to the man beside him, but when he turned back to point, Rose was nowhere to be seen.

DOCTOR WHO

"Is something wrong? You're being awfully quiet," the Doctor asked Donna, looking around him, poking his face into alleyways and around corners, hands still awkwardly clenching at his sides. He turned suddenly and hopped into a hole in the floor, climbing down a ladder. Donna raised an eyebrow but followed him without protest.

She looked up. "Hmm? Nothing. No, I'm fine; nothing's wrong."

He turned suddenly and hopped into a hole in the floor, climbing down a ladder. Donna raised an eyebrow but followed him without protest.

"If I know anything, I know that you, Donna Noble, are a terrible liar," he said, almost absent-mindedly as he continued prodding around once they'd reached the bottom, looking for something.

"What? I'm not!" She protested and he finally stopped what he was doing with something on the wall and looked at her.

"Donna, please don't lie to me. What's wrong?"

"It's just….." she trailed off when he waked off to open a panel on the wall a ways away from her, as if he wasn't even listening. "'S nothing. It's nothing!" she added when he turned his head to give her a dubious look.

"Donna."

"Alright, alright," she finally surrendered, "It's just that…..I'm not really….what I mean is, it's a little, uhh…freaky? The whole new person thing? Guess what I'm tryin to say is that I'm not quite….used to it, and it's just…just a bit weird. Guess I just feel a bit out of place, what with Amy and new you and new TARDIS and everything. 's nothing, really," she concluded with a silent sigh as the Doctor crouched on the floor again, looking at a glass of water (God knows where he'd gotten that one) and looked at it, frowning.

He didn't respond to her, too busy with his water glass. Donna looked up when she heard footsteps, and she saw a woman in a red cape with a mask on.

"Who're you?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

The woman winked at her, causing Donna to fold her arms and raise her eyebrow, suspicious, and then looked down at the Doctor. "The impossible truth in a glass of water," she whispered through the mask, "not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?"

He stood up and looked at the woman, examining her eyes closely, as that was all he could see of her face. "You know me?"

"Keep your voice down," the woman warned, "They're everywhere."

"Who?" Donna asked, not even bothering to lower her voice. "Why should we listen to you?"

"Silence!" she hissed, putting a finger to the mask's painted lips. "We do not want to alert them. Tell me what you see in the glass," she commanded the Doctor, who took an almost imperceptible step forward.

"Who says I see anything?" he asked, challenging and curious at the same time.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine that big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, I thought I'd take a look." He walked over to the wall panel he'd been fiddling with and opened it, pulling out a big wire that didn't seem to attach to anything. "It doesn't make sense! These power couplings, they're not connected. Look!" he swung open another panel, showing them the couplings, which were indeed, unconnected. "They're dummies, see?" he ran across the small room to the other wall, rapping on it with his knuckled. "And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was-"

"-no engine at all," the woman finished with him and he blinked, looking a bit more than mildly confused.

"What? How can there not be an engine?" Donna asked in complete shock.

"But it's working. This ship is flying through space; I saw it!"

"The impossible truth, Doctor," she whispered, "We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"How?" he demanded, searching her mask for answers.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope."

**A/N I know that Donna is OOC right now, but it's because she feels unwanted and a bit like a fourth wheel, but she doesn't really want to broadcast that she's feeling left out, so she's sort of unintentionally excluding herself even more. She'll get better when she finds her place, I promise you. And Rose, well, she's just a hard person for me to write, I suppose. I went back and watched seasons 1 and 2 again to go back and remember how innocent and young she was. Some of that would be lost, after travelling and then the parallel world and then 12 years in Leadworth, but she'd still have ties to her younger self, y'know? So I'm working on it. If you have any tips for writing Rose or Donna, please review and tell me, I'd love to hear them :)**


	24. The Beast Below part 2

**A/N I down own DW or the BBC.**

**P.S. Yeah, so umm, sorry about the wait. Long story short, I was out of town and my flight home got cancelled, leaving me halfway across the country without my computer. Oops.**

**Book of the Update: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green**

Chapter 24

Amy blinked her eyes open and looked around, her head still foggy, and Rose began to pound on the glass from the other side, trying to get her attention.

"Amy!" she yelled, not caring if anyone else heard. "Amy, get out of there!"

The room must've been soundproof, because Amy didn't appear to hear Rose at all. She jumped up and looked around, her eyes finally landing on four television screens with big buttons beneath them. Despite Rose banging on the glass, telling her not to touch anything, Amy pressed the red play button on the screen and sat back down in the chair she'd woken up in, her back to Rose.

An older man with a beard appeared on all four of the screens. It looked like he was giving a news report or something. Rose couldn't hear what he was saying, but Amy sat up straighter, looking intrigued.

"Amy! Amy, what's going on?" Rose cried, even though she knew the girl couldn't hear her.

The man on the screen finished talking and gave the camera a sad sort of smile before the screen switched to a new image. A terrible, terrible new image. Rose's heart broke watching the video and her hand crept up to her mouth in silent shock.

"I have to tell the Doctor," she whispered to herself, "I've got to." It would break his heart, but she couldn't just keep something like that from him. No, she had to tell him. She had to tell him now.

With a final glance back at Amy, who was reaching out her hand towards one of the buttons, Rose stepped away from the glass and turned around, only to walk straight into someone's chest. She squeaked and muttered an 'excuse me' with an innocent smile, and tried to step around the man, only to be stopped by a strong hand gripping her bicep, roughly keeping her still. The man raised his other hand and the gem on his ring slid aside, a thick grey gas swirling out of the opening.

"What's that? What're you doing?! You don't understand, I can help! I know someone who can help you, if you'd just let me….if you'd just let me…." Her eyelids were getting heavier and her mouth wasn't really cooperating well. "I just…..need the…Doctor…." She said slowly, her tongue thick and heavy, and then everything went black.

DOCTOR WHO

"You don't remember anything?" Donna asked her quietly while the Doctor was scanning the screens with his screwdriver.

Amy shrugged. "No. Last thing I remember is watching a video of myself, telling me to get us all out of here. I was crying," she said the last part in a voice so low it was almost a whisper. "And I don't know why."

"It's alright," Donna told her, "We'll figure it out. Where's Rose?" she asked, noticing that the blonde was nowhere to be seen.

Ay shrugged, but it was the Doctor who answered, "Oh, she's wandered off again. I'm sure she's fine."

Donna looked incredulous. "_Sure she's fine_? You're not even a little worried?"

"Donna," he said, looking her right in the eye, "Rose is an adult who is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. That thought is the only thing keeping me from going absolutely mad worrying about her, so I'd appreciate if you could accept that as well so that I could keep my head for the moment. Please and thank you," he snapped before turning back to the screens, leaving a shocked Donna standing behind him.

"Kay. Right then," she said, exchanging a look with Amy.

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed, and they jumped and looked over at him. "Basic memory wipe; probably took away twenty minutes, twenty four at most."

"But why would I choose to forget?"

"Because everyone does," Mandy told her, from behind them, "Everyone chooses the forget button."

The Doctor walks over and leans down to her. "Did you?"

"I'm…not eligible to vote yet. I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years."

"Once every five years? Everyone chooses to forget once every five years?" Donna cried, shocked.

"Democracy in action," the Doctor mumbled before spinning around and walking over to the screens, tapping them and pressing buttons. Nothing happened.

"How do you not know about this? Are you _all_ Scottish?" Mandy asked, apparently not noticing that the Doctor and Donna did not have Scottish accents.

"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish," the Doctor said, "I can't even see the movie; won't play for me."

"It played for me," Amy said, looking confused and a bit suspicious.

"Well, the difference being, the computer doesn't accept me as human."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not. Donna, would you come here for a moment?" Donna walked over and the Doctor grabbed her arms and gently steered her to stand directly in front of the screens. "Now, if you'd just-"

"Hold on just a minute!" Amy interrupted, walking over to them. "You're saying you're an alien?" the Doctor nodded, and she raised her eyebrows. "You look human."

"No," he said, frowning, "You look Time Lord. We came first."

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" Amy asked, ignoring Donna vigorously shaking her head and mouthing 'stop' to her.

The Doctor's hands froze on the knob he had been turning. "No," he said quietly. "There were, but there aren't….just me now. Long story. There was a bad day, bad stuff happened," he admitted, his hand grabbing Donna's behind him for support, though he appeared as though he didn't need it. "And you know what? I'd love to forget it all. But I don't, and I never will. 'Cause this is what I do, every time, every day, every second – this." He balled his free hand into a fist and rocked back on his heels. "We're bringing down the government."

He slammed his fist onto the protest button.

DOCTOR WHO

Rose drifted into consciousness, yawning, and tried to sit up and stretch her arms, but there was something tying her arms to her sides. Her eyes shot open as everything came slamming back to her. Starship UK. Amy. Tentacle. Doctor, Donna. Video. Star whale. _Star whale_!

She looked around, but didn't see anyone. "Hello?" she called tentatively, and there was a beeping noise behind her.

"Hello," a sad-sounding voice said from behind her, and she tried to see, but her head wouldn't turn back that far. "I'm really sorry about this, but you seem to have caused a little problem with our system," the voice explained, sounding truly apologetic.

"What? Who are you? What've I done?"

There were footsteps and a man stepped into her range of vision. He was tall and slightly pudgy, with a downturned mouth and square red glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. "You could not forget."

"What?" she asked, bewildered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You watched the film. You were not able to choose forget or protest, so one of our agents went to retrieve you. When we tried to wipe your memory, however-"

"Wipe my memory? You were tryin' to_ wipe my memory_?" she cried, outraged. "Why?"

He ignored her and continued as if she hadn't spoken. "However, the memory wipe didn't seem to work very well. It didn't do anything at all, actually."

"You tried to wipe my memory," Rose said slowly, as if she were testing out each word.

"Oh my god, woman, aren't we past that yet?" the man asked, exasperated. He walked behind her again and, from the sound, sat down in a chair. "Thought you'd be a bit smarter than this," he said dryly, shuffling through papers.

"Oi! Alright then, I'll bite. Why didn't it work?"

"It appears we have a faulty machine. Apparently, it only works on humans – what a stupid machine," he added with a sigh.

"But I am human," Rose said, scrunching her brow up in confusion.

The man stopped shuffling his papers and Rose imagined he was staring at her right now, eyebrows raised. "No. You're not."

She snorted, "Alright, your machine's faulty then. I was born on earth, my mum's human, dad's human, _I'm_ human."

"I'm sorry," the man said, sounding exasperated, "but you're really not."

DOCTOR WHO

"What the_ bloody hell_ am I sittin' in?"

"I really don't think you want to know. We've just gone through a high-speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel," the Doctor said, scanning the air around them.

"Where are we?" Amy asked in horrified shock, picking out slimy chunks of _something_ from her hair and flinging it across the…area.

"Ah…600 feet down, 20 miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say…" he trailed off, smelling the air. "Lancashire."

Donna stood up on shaky legs and looked around. "Oh, this ain't Lancashire, _buddy_."

The Doctor ignored her. "So what's this then? A cave? Can't be a cave. But it looks like a cave." He tried to scan the air again with his sonic, but Amy interrupted him.

"It's a rubbish dump! And it's _stinkin_!"

"Yes! But-" the Doctor said, dropping to his knees in the slush and grabbing a handful, smelling it. "Only food refuse. Organic. Coming through feeding tubes from all over the ship."

"So what is it we're standin' in? S'all squishy and wet," Donna grumbled, picking up her feet and wincing as the goo clung to her shoes like melted cheese. Maybe it was melted cheese.

"But feeding what, though?" The Doctor asked, ignoring her.

Amy looked down at the goo on her arms and hands. "It's sort of rubbery though, feel it, all slimy and-"

There was a loud rumbling noise that shook the entire room. They all froze.

"What," Donna asked quietly, "was that?"

The Doctor's eyes widened and he looked back at them, nervously. "Uhh, it's not a floor. It's a…..so!" he cried, obviously trying to change the subject.

Amy wasn't fooled. "It's a what?"

"Well…..the next word is kind of a scary word. You probably want to take a moment, get yourself in a calm place, go-"

"Doctor, spit it out already!" Donna hollered and he reddened.

"Right. Sorry. It's a….tongue," he said slowly, watching them for reactions.

Amy's face went completely blank. "A tongue," she said in a dead voice.

"A tongue!" he cried enthusiastically. "A great big tongue!"

"I'm standing," Donna said slowly, pointing her fingers at the ground beneath her, "on a _tongue_?"

"Yes you are! This'll be a great story to tell Wilf sometime. Not your mother, though. Don't think she'd like it too much."

"This is a mouth," Amy said, still in that deadpan voice. "This whole place is a mouth." She turned around, full circle, looking at everything. "We're in a mouth?!"

"Yes, yes, but on the plus side, roomy," the Doctor said, trying to calm them down.

"Doctor," Donna said slowly, "What type of creature has a mouth this big?"

"I've no idea," he said with glee, running around on the squishy tongue. He scanned the dark part behind them, probably the throat, with his sonic, reading something off of the side. "How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous! Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach!" The creature made a rumbling, swishy noise, and he froze where he stood. "No. Not right now."

"The _stomach_?"

"Doctor, how do we get out?"

"Okay, yeah, right. So, it's being fed by surgically implanted feeding tubes, so the normal entrance is….closed for business," he said, his face falling as he saw the front of the mouth. Teeth were closed tightly, locking them inside the mouth.

"We could try though," Amy said, starting to move forward, but the mouth began to rumble again and the tongue wiggled back and forth.

"STOP! Don't move!" the Doctor commanded, "It's started."

"What? What's started?" Donna cried, trying her best not to move.

"Swallow reflex!" the mouth tongue flopped up and down a bit and they fell over into the gunk, screaming. The Doctor got to his knees and turned his sonic on, the green light pulsing fast.

"What're you doin?"

"I'm vibrating the chemo receptors!"

"Chemo what?!"

"The eject button!" he yelled, sonic screwdriver still pulsing green.

"How does a mouth have an eject button!"

"Think about it!"

"You're not serious," Donna screeched, but it turns out he was. They stood up, looking at the fluid rushing up from the throat.

"Right then! This isn't going to be big on dignity," the Doctor hollered over the noise, adjusting his bowtie with an ecstatic grin. "GERONIMO!"

"AHHHHHH!"

DOCTOR WHO

"What are you gonna do to me now?" Rose asked in a small voice. They'd been silent for quite some time after she'd stopped arguing about her species, and it was making her nervous.

"I've no idea," the man admitted, slapping his papers down on a table. Possibly the floor. "They just put me down here, told me what happened, and said to make sure you didn't run off."

"I can help, you know," she told him, "If you let me go, I can get the Doctor and he can fix it – make it so that poor creature isn't being _tortured_ every moment of its life, I know he can."

The man sighed. "It's a rubbish situation, honestly. If we release the whale, everyone on this ship will die. If we don't, it'll go on in constant pain forever. We can't do anything, really. Either way, someone gets hurt. Rather one than one million, right?"

Rose thought for a moment. "There's got to be some solution," she said, banging her head against the chair behind her. But she thought of none.

They were silent for a while until she spoke again. "I never even asked, what's your name?"

"Matthew. Matthew VanHooris," he said, walking around to shake her hand.

"I'm Rose," she said, awkwardly shaking his hand around the ropes binding her arms.

"Sorry about the ropes. If I take them off, I'd probably lose my job," he said apologetically, smiling nervously at her.

"Yeah," she said tightly, not enjoying just sitting back and doing nothing. But what was there to be done? It was one life against a million – were there really any options?

A television screen in the corner of the room came to life, showing what looked like security footage. But Rose knew those voices. "That's the Doctor!" she cried, "And Donna and Amy! Why are you watching them?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

Matthew shrugged. "They just stick me down here; tell me to watch for anything unusual. I just report it; I dunno what it all means or why."

"Who do you report it to?"

"Mister Hawthorne, and he acts right on the queen's orders."

"And what exactly are her orders?" Rose asked, wriggling against her bonds. Matthew shrugged and she sighed. "Can't you try to figure them out somehow?"

"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked incredulously and she faltered.

"Um…I dunno, you must have connections or something that would help, yeah?"

He shrugged again. "Only connection I've got is one-way to Hawthorne and a communication device to the janitors."

Rose seized on that bit of information. "Janitors! They must get around; clean up Her Majesty's rooms or something, right?"

He shrugged _again_, and Rose grit her teeth, her head falling back against the chair. "Don't you want to at least _try_ to help?"

"That's not my job, Rose. My job is to watch the screens and report what I see," he said with finality, turning away from her and walking out of sight again.

She bit her lip to keep from hollering at him, instead watching the Doctor and her friends walk around on the small screen. There had to be _something_ she could do, even trapped down here.

DOCTOR WHO

"Where are we?"

"Overspill pipe. And before you ask, yes, you are covered in sick," the Doctor replied with a grin.

"Oh god, it stinks!" Amy cried, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah…not the pipe."

Donna looked disgusted. "Can we get out?"

"One door. One door switch. One condition: we forget everything we saw." He pointed to a large white button with 'forget' in big letters across the top. "Look familiar? That's the carrot and….ooh! Here's the stick." He walked past Amy and Donna, stopping right in front of two of those dummy things in the boxes. "There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?"

There was a clicking noise as the dummies' heads turned around, the backside being a mad, frowny face.

"Oh, come on, that's not going to work on me. Big ole beast below decks and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. Is that how it works?"

The head spun again, this time to a really angry face with teeth showing, as if it were growling.

"Stop it!" Donna cried, looking back and forth between the two glass boxes.

The Doctor looked at her and then back at the dummies. "Oh, please do. I'm not leaving, and I'm not forgetting, and what are you fellows gonna do about it? Stick out your tongues? Huh?"

The glass swung open and the dummies stood up from their seats and took a step forward, towards the trio.

Donna shrieked and jumped back. "Doctor?"

His eyes were wide, like he hadn't expected this either, and he just slowly began to back up, Amy and Donna following his lead. Amy gasped and Donna whirled her head around to see what had happened. There was a woman coming right at them with a gun – the same woman who had earlier been the one in the mask.

The woman breezed right by them and shot the two dummies in the chests, making sparks fly. They fell to the ground and the woman blew the smoke from her gun, twirled it, and put it back into her belt.

"You look a lot less like an axe murderer without your mask on," Donna noted, but the woman seemed to ignore her.

She smiled and walked over to Amy, holding out her hand. "You must be Amy. I'm Liz, Liz 10." Amy shook her hand and Liz grimaced, wiping her hand on her shirt. "Ugh. Lovely hair, Amy, shame about the sick." She walked over and put her arm around the little girl from the bench, Mandy. "You know Mandy, yeah? She's very brave."

"How did you find us?" the Doctor demanded and she winked, throwing him a little machine.

"Stuck my gizmo on you. Been listenin' in. Nice moves on the hurl escape," she added, looking back to the still-dripping-with-sick Donna and Amy. "So, what's the big fella doin' here?"

"You're over 16, you voted," Donna said, "You've just picked to forget it."

"No," she said calmly, "Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?" the Doctor asked, running his hands through his sick-covered hair.

Liz smiled. "You're a bit hard to miss, Doctor. Mysterious stranger. M.O. consistent with higher alien intelligence. Hair of an idiot." The Doctor frowned and ran a hand through his hair. "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."

"Your family?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but the dummies behind them started twitching and she turned swiftly, leading them away. "Doesn't take them long to repair. Come on."

She lead them down a side passage that they had failed to notice before. It opened into a big room – or maybe it was just a bigger overspill pipe.

"The Doctor," she began, "old drinking buddy of Henry 12, tea and scones with Liz 2, Vicky was a bit on the fence about you and that Rose girl, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day."

Donna snorted. Course they would get knighted and then exiled in the same day. Seemed so perfectly them.

"Liz 10?" the Doctor asked in surprise, figuring it out.

"Yeah. Elizabeth the tenth. And DOWN!" she hollered, pulling out her gun and shooting the dummies behind them again. "I'm the bloody queen, mate. Basically, I rule."

She smirked and walked down another passage, leaving them to follow.

"Oh, I like her," Donna said, laughing.

They went through a big heavy metal door and stopped beside a gate with awful claw-like tentacle things slamming into the bars. The Doctor got down on his knees and stuck his head through the bars, ignoring what everyone else was saying. The creature….it was making noises, it-

"Doctor, I saw one of these up top – when Rose and I got separated – there was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root," Amy said, looking at the thing behind the bars.

"Exactly like a root, because it's all one creature, the same one we were inside. It must be growing from inside the mechanisms of the entire ship."

"What, like an infestation?" Liz asked, looking around.

The Doctor didn't reply, still listening through the bars. His face looked sad. Very sad. "Oh. We should never have come here," he breathed, looking at the tentacles.

Donna knelt down beside him and put a hand on his arm. "Is it….is this like the Ood?"

"Yes, Donna," he said in a choked voice, "This is exactly like the Ood."

DOCTOR WHO

The trio onscreen followed the woman down a set of stairs and Matthew frowned, looking a bit confused, and pressed a button on the wall beside him. "Code Yellow. Security room at once, please," he said into the microphone beside the button.

"What's a code yellow?"

"Not likely I'd tell you, if it's got a code name," he said, chuckling, "All I know is that it's got something to do with that woman right there. I've no idea what."

The door opened and a tall, spindly man slipped inside the room and over to the screen, ignoring Matthew and Rose. He watched the footage for a few moments and then leaned over to the microphone and pressed the button. "Winder division one. 10 has migrated to the lower levels. Initiate the protocol." He looked at Matthew and smiled grimly. "God save the queen." And then he was gone, back through the door he came from.

Rose blinked. That had happened fast. "What's the protocol?"

Matthew looked at her, his brows furrowed. "Haven't got the foggiest."

"Didn't sound good."

"No, it didn't," he agreed.

"Still want to stay out of it?" Rose asked, trying to convince him otherwise.

"Yes," he said, though he sounded a bit unsure.

"You don't really know what they're doing. What if you're working for the bad guys and you don't even know it?" Matthew froze and Rose knew that she was finally getting somewhere. "Do you know anything about them at all?"

He looked at her, looked her right in the eye. "You said this Doctor can fix it? Keep everybody safe and the whale?"

Rose faltered. "I….I dunno. But it's something, yeah? Not just sitting down and watching an opportunity to possibly help pass you by?"

Matthew looked at the screen, which showed the Doctor and Donna and Amy and the woman being taken down a lot of stairs by people in black robes. They looked like hostages. Prisoners. _Bait_.

He looked back at Rose and reached around to untie her bonds. "Let's go."

DOCTOR WHO

It took a good twenty or so minutes for Rose and Matthew to get down to the lowest level – the dungeon.

"…I'll ever do," they heard someone say from a pretty good distance from them.

"That's the Doctor," Rose hissed, pulling Matthew along with her.

"I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the starwhale's brain. It should knock out all it's higher functions, essentially leaving it a vegetable. The ship'll still fly but the whale won't feel it," they heard him explain and Rose's jaw fell slack.

"He's going to kill it," she mumbled, "But….but he couldn't. He wouldn't!"

Matthew grabbed her arm and pulled her along, now that she had slowed almost to a stop. "Yeah, well, he's going to, and we've got to stop him. We've got to do something. Come on!" he tightened his grip around her elbow and started running toward the sound of the voices.

He wouldn't…..would he?


	25. TheBeast Below pt3 Victory of the Daleks

**A/N Io non proprio DW o la BBC.**

**Book of the Update: The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George**

Chapter 25

"Doctor!" Rose cried, running into the dungeon room, "stop!"

His head snapped up, sorrow etched onto his face but a burning pain alight in his eyes.

"You don't have to do this," she said, a bit helplessly, her hand reaching out as if to comfort him, but dropping back to her side before she made contact. His body was rigid, his knuckles white on the edge of the control panel before him.

"What else do you expect me to do?" he yelled, somewhere between hopeless and furious, "I have three options. One, I don't do anything, and the starwhale lives on forever in _unendurable agony_. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can." His head dropped and his eyes darted around madly. "And then I-I find a new name, 'cause I won't be the Doctor anymore."

"But there's got to be something we can do, some other way!" she cried, her eyes flicking over to where the whale's brain was visible, pulsing with the torturous energy. She stretched out her hand to him, saying, "Doctor, you can't-"

"No, no, no!" He yelled, slamming his fists into the machine. "Nobody say _anything_! Nobody human has the right to say anything to me today!"

Rose's hand dropped, her mouth falling open slightly, and she stepped back. Away from him. "I thought you would try 'n look for a different way. For anything else," she mumbled, turning away from him, "I guess I was wrong."

They watched in painful silence as the Doctor turned knobs and pulled out wires on the control panel, preparing the machine for what it was about to do. Rose sunk down next to Donna and Amy, her eyes wet and conscience heavy. Her head dropped into her hands and she took a deep, shuddering breath, feeling Donna's hand rubbing her back comfortingly. No words were spoken.

The girl, Mandy, got up and ran to her friend, Amy standing up and following, but Rose and Donna took no notice of this until she said, "Doctor, stop."

Rose lifted her head to see Amy running over to the Doctor, crying, "Doctor, whatever you're doing, stop it now!" She grabbed the woman with the curly hair – Elizabeth the Tenth – and dragged her over to a table hosting a television screen and two buttons. "Sorry, Your Majesty, but I'm gonna need a hand," she explained, and Donna stood up to see what was going on, pulling Rose with her.

The Doctor lunged towards the queen. "No, no, no, _don't_!"

But he was too late. Amy smashed the queen's hand down onto the button with the word 'protest' printed on it. Donna shrieked, bringing her hands up to her mouth, but Rose only stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before looking back to where Mandy and her friend had just been playing with the starwhale's claw-like limb. She turned her head and looked at the Doctor, remembering what he'd said before. Last of his kind…old and tired…..children crying….she almost whooped at the brilliance of it all when the whole plan dawned on her. Amelia Pond was a _star_.

But then the entire ship shuddered violently, sending her careening into Matthew VanHooris, who caught her just before she slammed into the stone wall, and Rose's faith in Amy's plan wavered a bit. Or more than a bit. Quite a lot more than a bit.

"What've you done?" Donna shrieked, clinging to a pillar beside her for dear life.

Amy stood up as the ship righted itself, apparently still confident in her plan. "I haven't done anything," she said, looking around at everyone. "Am I right?"

The man in the black cloak – Hawthorne – checked something on a screen and then looked back at them, astonished. "We've increased speed," he said incredulously, looking back to the readings, as if to double check.

"Yeah, well you've stopped torturing the pilot," Amy said, a smirk on her face, "Gotta help."

"It's still here," Donna said, walking over to look at the whale's brain, "Why didn't it leave?"

"The starwhale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago – it _volunteered_. You didn't hafta trap it or torture it," she said, walking towards Elizabeth the Tenth, "that was all just _you_. It wanted to help, 'cause it couldn't stand to-"

"See the children crying," Rose joined in, finishing for her. "Cause it was really kind and really old, and it couldn't stand to see the children crying," she said with a smile and Amy nodded earnestly, picking up with:

"What would you do," she asked, looking directly at the queen, "if you were really old and really kind, and your whole race was dead? What couldn't you do? If you were that old and that kind, and the very last of your kind," she added, turning around to face the Doctor, "you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

The Doctor's mouth was open and his eyes wide and he looked at a loss for words. How had this girl, who'd only met him once or twice before, come into his life and lay out his whole existence as simple as that? As simple as the solution for Starship UK? He didn't know how to respond.

"That's…Amy, that was bloody brilliant!" Donna said softly, in an awed voice, a bit contradictory to her word choice.

Amy just smiled at her, but Rose was looking just at the Doctor. He met her eyes for a moment before turning suddenly and walking away, out of the room. Rose made a step as if to follow him, but saw Amy going after him, and figured that maybe it wasn't her turn to be the focus of the Doctor's attention right now. Instead, she turned and walked back to Donna. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, "I'm fine. You?"

"Fine."

They were silent for a few more minutes before Donna spoke again, "he didn't want to, you know."

"Hmm?"

"You should'a seen him. Before you came runnin' in, he was 'bout to lose it. Finally did, but you know what I mean. Looked like it was gonna be waterworks and everything," she said, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice. "He was pretty upset."

Rose smiled grimly. "Think he still is."

"Think we oughtta talk to her?" Donna asked, jerking her head towards the queen, who was speaking quietly with Hawthorne, Matthew standing beside them a bit awkwardly.

Rose groaned. "Aww, I thought I was done with cleanup," she whined, putting her face in her hands. "Had enough a' that back with Torchwood," she mumbled, even as she turned and walked over to them, Donna right on her heels. "Right then, so things are gonna change around here, yeah?"

Elizabeth the Tenth nodded. "Yeah. There'll be no more secrets on Starship UK," she said, handing over the mask.

Rose blinked, a bit surprised. She hadn't expected her to be so quick and resolute about it. "Oh. Umm, yeah. Okay. That's really great then," she said, taking the mask from her.

Donna smirked and pushed her way in front of Rose. "What I think she's tryin' to say is thanks. And there's not gonna be any more harm done to that poor creature, is there?" the woman shook her head no, and Hawthorne readily agreed, shaking his head as well. "Now, I think you're gonna need to tell the truth to everyone on this ship – give a speech or somethin', I dunno, but no more secrets. That's gotta be a promise that's kept now, Your Majesty, otherwise it ain't gonna do a _thing_."

The queen nodded earnestly and said something in reply, but Rose wasn't really listening. She'd walked over to where Matthew stood, and she tapped his arm and smiled, giving a little wave with the tips of her fingers. "Hey. Me again."

"Hey," he said, waving as well.

"I um... I just wanted to say thanks," she told him, fiddling with her hands, "Thanks for believing me. And for helping me get down here and all."

"Well you were right," he said, grinning, "Better to at least try to help. Don't think I'll be sittin' 'round watchin the telly all day anymore. I've been thinking. Shame about the starwhale bein' the last. Wouldn't want any other species to come to that too, so maybe I could…go out and, I dunno, help them? Ah, never mind, that sounds really stupid now," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Forget I said anything."

"No it doesn't!" Rose protested, "It sounds fantastic! Helpin out like that…it sounds really great. Much better than watchin telly and eating beans on toast," she said, smiling as if she'd made a joke. He didn't understand.

"So really, it's me who should be thanking you, I suppose. Thanks for inspiring me, Rose." He pulled her into a hug, and Rose didn't say anything else, blinking in astonishment. She'd never…inspired anyone before. Especially not to do something _brilliant_ like what Matthew was planning.

Someone cleared their throat behind her and she pulled out of the hug, smiling up at the Doctor behind her, who put an arm around her shoulders and smiled at her, his expression becoming somewhat frowny when he looked at Matthew. "Do you want to introduce me to your friend, Rose?" he asked, tightening his grip around her shoulders possessively.

Rose rolled her eyes. She thought he'd outgrown the jealousy. Apparently not. "This is Matthew VanHooris. Matthew, this is the Doctor."

Matthew's eyes widened a bit when he took in the Doctor's expression and he hurriedly held out a hand for him to shake. "I've heard a lot about you from Rose," he said awkwardly.

The Doctor looked unimpressed. "Mm. We'd better get going," he said, turning away and tugging Rose with him. "Donna! Amy! Come on, hurry up! You humans spend so much time chatting. Wasting your lives away chatting, you will," he grumbled, making Rose laugh and shove him playfully, getting a grin out of him as well. He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head, opening his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Donna screaming – squealing? – from behind them and he swung around, eyes wide. "What," he asked, "was that?"

"Amy's getting-"

"Um, Doctor," Amy said, cutting off whatever Donna had been about to say, "You know what I said about being back for tomorrow?" a phone began to ring from somewhere inside the TARDIS and Rose slipped out from under the Doctor's arm to unlock the door and get the phone. If only she could find it.

"I'm sorry, is that actually a phone?" Amy asked from outside and the Doctor scoffed.

"Course it's a phone. It _is_ a phone box," he said, pushing on the door for them to go through.

"Doctor, where have you moved the phone to?" Rose asked, "I've looked everywhere!"

"Here it is," Donna called out, holding up the offending object. Rose glared at it, but Donna just ignored her and answered it. "Hello?" her eyes widened. "It's _who_?" A warbled murmur came from the other end of the call and Donna raised her eyebrows. "Nawh," she said, eyes wide, "Who is it really?" Another murmur and she turned to the Doctor, putting the phone against her chest to muffle it. "Says it's the bleedin' prime minister!" she said in an awed sort of stage whisper.

Amy's eves widened and she stepped up to where Donna stood. "First the queen, now the prime minister? You get up there, huh, Doctor?" she asked him teasingly, still looking at the phone as if the prime minister himself would pop out of it and stand before them.

"What do I do?" Donna hissed, pointing at the phone.

The Doctor hardly looked up from the bit of the console he seemed intent of altering. "Which prime minister?" he pulled down a lever. "Rose, would you get that right there – yes, that – lovely! Ta."

Donna blinked at him for a second, mouth open a bit. "Which prime minister?" more murmuring from the other end and she rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know that," she said, exasperated, "But _which_ British one?" her eyes bugged and she took the phone away from her ear, handing it to the Doctor with a sort of shocked reverence. "Winston Churchill. Think it's for you."

Amy's jaw dropped. "No way. Winston Churchill?"

But the Doctor was ignoring her. "Ahh, hello dear, what's up?" there was a bit of murmuring from the other end and the Doctor nodded, grinning. "Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister. We're on our way."

And he promptly hung up the phone.

"Winston Churchill? Really? You know Winston Churchill and you never thought to bring me to meet him?" Donna asked indignantly, but the Doctor just shrugged.

"You never asked."

Donna gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, until Rose broke in, giggling, "He knows an awful lot of people, Donna; you'd never have the time to meet all of them!"

The Doctor grinned at her and purposely bumped her hip with his as he leaned across the console to ding the bell. "_Fantastic_ point," he told her with a wink, making her laugh even more as the ship took off, jerking and rocking everywhere as they sped through space and time, all the way back to London, Earth, during an era dominated by bombs and metal. They were headed to the Blitz.

DOCTOR WHO

Rose stepped out and immediately flung up her hands in surrender with a little screech. She was staring down the barrel of a gun. The Doctor appeared at her side in an instant, stepping out between the guns and her. "Hello, boys," he said cheerfully, waving to the soldiers around them. "Might want to put those down."

A man with a cigar in his mouth stepped through the line of soldiers, eyes wide. "Doctor," he said, "is it you?"

The Doctor smiled and motioned for the others to come on outside. "Amy, Donna, Rose...Winston Churchill," he told them with a flourish, gesturing to the man before them. Said man smiled and held out his hand to the Doctor who laughed and shook his head. "Every time."

"What's he after?" Amy asked and the Doctor responded without looking away.

"TARDIS key."

"But think what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor," Winston said, trying to plead his case, "Think of the lives that could be saved."

"Doesn't quite work like that," Rose mumbled, still standing behind the Doctor with her hands up in unnecessary surrender.

"Must I take it by force?"

"I'd like to see you try."

The two men had a bit of a stare-off for a while until Winston finally gave in, grumbling 'at ease' to his men and leading the Doctor and friends down a long hallway. "So you've changed your face again?" he asked the Doctor who shrugged, looking at Donna and Rose.

"Yeah, well. Had a bit of work done."

Amy squealed in excitement, looking all around. "Got it, got it, got it! Cabinet war room, right?"

"Yep! Top secret offices right under London," the Doctor told her, doing a little spin.

"You're late. Again!" Churchill informed them, pausing briefly to sign some document on a clipboard a girl handed him.

"Late?" the Doctor cried in indignation. "I'm never late!" Rose exchanged a glance with Amy and Donna snorted, rolling her eyes.

"I rang you a month ago."

"A _month_? Sorry, sorry, it's a type 40 TARDIS, I'm just…running her in," he said sheepishly. Rose's brow furrowed. She thought the TARDIS was perfectly fine.

"No, you're just never on time," Donna argued. The Doctor glared at her.

"Something the matter?" Winston asked the girl who'd handed him the clipboard. "You seem a little down in the dumps."

She shrugged. "No sir. Fine, sir."

"Right. Back to work, then," he said, looking unconvinced.

"Yes, sir," she said before scurrying off.

Rose had been watching her as she walked off, trying to guess what had happened to upset her, but someone slipped their hand into hers and she lost her train of thought.

"Come on. Going upstairs," the Doctor said, tugging on her hand to lead her away, following Churchill.

They stood in the lift, choking on the smoke from Winston's cigar, in a loud silence before anyone spoke. "We stand at a crossroads, Doctor. Quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands _anything_ that will give us an advantage over an enemy attack."

"Such as?" the Doctor asked calmly, albeit a bit suspiciously.

Churchill didn't answer, only slid open the grate and stepped out, muttering 'follow me' to the group –Donna, Amy, Rose, and the Doctor – behind him.

They followed him out onto what looked to be the roof of the building. Armed soldiers stood everywhere, watching the skyline for enemy planes. "Blimey," Donna said quietly, looking around her. She'd heard about the Blitz in school – everyone had. But to see people actually in the middle of it, standing around prepared for attack….there were blimps. All around them, in the sky. The world below seemed brown and dull. The sky was grey.

"Doctor!" Winston shouted over the noise of the wind, "This is Professor Edwin Bankwell, head of our newest project."

"How d'you do?" he called in greeting before turning his attention back to scouring the skyline through a rather large set of binoculars.

"S'like we're standin' right in the middle of history," Donna muttered to Amy, who looked a bit lost. She was standing with her hands over her mouth, trying to take it all in, when there was a violent boom and the world seemed to flash yellow and red for a moment. A bomb.

"Open fire!" Churchill hollered, and the soldiers did just that, impossibly futuristic energy beams shooting up into the sky, hitting every single one of the enemy planes above them. A shudder went through Rose at the sound they made, because it sounded just like…..it was a bit familiar, that's all.

"Hold on," Donna started, "Isn't that a bit space-agey for the 1940s?"

The Doctor's brow was furrowed and the hand that held Rose's was clammy and squeezing tightly. "That wasn't human. It almost sounded like…"

He looked at Rose with fear in his eyes and she had to bite back another shudder. "But….it couldn't've been," she said, still holding tightly to his hand, waiting for confirmation to what she'd said.

But there was no confirmation.

"Show me!" the Doctor demanded, dropping Rose's hand to climb up a ladder to the level that the shots came from. "_Show_ _me_!" When he reached the top, he froze and his blood ran cold.

"Our new secret weapon!" Churchill proclaimed in a bragging tone. "What d'you think? Quite something, eh?"

But the Doctor didn't reply. He stepped over to the creature and looked right into its eye. "What are you doing here?"

"I AM YOUR SOL-DIER."

"What?"

"I AM YOUR SOL-DIER," it repeated, but that only aggravated the Doctor.

"Stop it! Stop _now_. You know who I am," he said in a low tone, anger apparent in every one of his features.

"I-DEN-TI-TY UN-KNOWN."

He turned around, his lip curled in disgust, unable to look at the creature that had ruined his life. _Lives_.

"Hold on now, let me clarify some things," Professor Bankwell said, coming over to them. "This is one of my ironsides."

The Doctor swung around at once. "Your _what_?"

"You will help the Allies in any way you can," Professor Bankwell said, addressing the creature, "until the Germans have been utterly defeated."

"YES."

"And what is your-" he started to say but he was cut off by a shrill shriek as Rose Tyler ascended the ladder and got to her feet, her breath stopping at the sight of the deadliest enemy standing right before her. Rose Tyler shrieked because she was staring down the eyestalk of a Dalek.

**A/N Ciao. So, some reviews maybe? Love you all lots and just wanted to thank you so much for 300+ reviews – made me so happy!**


	26. Victory of the Daleks part 2

**A/N Io non proprio DW o la BBC. Capisce?**

**Book of the Update: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien**

Chapter 26

"Doctor," Rose asked, back down in the cabinet war rooms, "Why are the Daleks here? Thought Davros killed them all _ages_ ago?"

He frowned, not looking at her. "I don't know. Stay here," he told her, a bit dismissively, before walking over to Churchill and Amy. He made some angry hand gestures and then frustrated hand gestures and then proceeded to stomped down a hallway, Amy and Winston on his heels. He left Donna and Rose behind.

Upset, she started to stomp back to the TARDIS and sit there and wait, but then she froze, realizing how childish she was being. Had been being for quite a while, in fact. The Doctor was a thousand and some odd years old; she couldn't expect to monopolize his attention just because their relationship had gone a little different. Right. Kay, that put her back in her place, knocked some sense into her. Maybe twelve years without him had made her a bit clingy once she got him back. Eugh, clingy was bad. Bad Rose, she chastised herself, stop right now. More important things to focus on. Specifically the Daleks.

"Rose?" someone asked and she turned to see Donna. "Are you sure that these Daleks are the same as the ones on the Crucible? They might not want-"

"No."

"But, just think about-"

"No. Donna, the Daleks are, like, everything that's wrong with the world. Trust me, the way you saw them back on the Crucible is _exactly_ how these are. They're hatred," she said, spitting out the last word, "in a big case a' metal."

Donna backed up the slightest bit, her hands up in surrender. "Yeah, alright. Sorry."

Rose took a breath. "No, _I'm_ sorry. S'just that the Daleks…the Doctor told you what happened to his people, right?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, he said there was a war and when it ended, everything died, right?"

"Donna, the war was against the Daleks. They're the reason he's not got any family or anything. They've killed him, loads of times probably, and they just keep comin' back. While he loses everything," she added softly. It sounded like she was repeating something he'd said, which probably wasn't too far off, knowing that that man told her _everything_. Rose took a breath. "And they've done stuff to me, too. I mean, nothing like _that_, but…they're evil, Donna. They're evil and they will never stop. Ever."

Donna's face was coated with sympathy for them both, but she tried to hide it, knowing that the pair wouldn't want sympathy. That's just not how they worked. "So why're these acting like they're helpin us out?"

Rose's brow furrowed. "I dunno. Maybe they've been….like, brainwashed or something?"

"God. Brainwashed robots, it's like some bad sci-f movie from the 80s," Donna grumbled, crossing her arms. "So what do we do?"

"Uhh….no idea," Rose admitted. Without the Doctor, she was pretty much at a loss. "The Doctor said to wait here…." She trailed off when she saw the look Donna was giving her.

"And you're actually going to?" she asked skeptically. Seemed a bit out of character for Rose to just sit and wait.

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"How should I know? You're the smart one!" Donna hissed, flapping her arms above her head.

Rose blinked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Well, you've done all this alien stuff for a while, you're smart, I dunno. Gotta have a better idea than me – I was just an ordinary temp! From Cheswick! I'm nothing special," she said the last part quietly, and Rose would tell that she actually believed it.

"Donna," she began, but was cut off before she could say anything else.

"So what are we gonna do? Cause I'm not sittin' round here for who knows how long waiting for those two to be back," Donna said, trying to change the subject.

Rose sighed. "Donna, you _are_ special and so so important. Yeah, it might feel like you're not, but you are."

"Yeah," Donna said, but Rose could tell that she didn't believe her. Donna Noble honestly thought she was nothing special. She didn't know how else to convince her otherwise, so she just shook her head almost imperceptibly and opened her mouth to say that maybe they _should_ just wait here for the Doctor when she heard shouting and loud clanging noise from down the hallway that the Doctor had come from.

Rose raised her eyebrows and turned back to mention something to Donna, but she had already rushed off down the hallway, eager to actually _do_ something. Rose quickly followed suit, running to catch up with her. When they reached the back office, however, there was a shocking scene before them. The Doctor was literally beating a Dalek with a big heavy spanner. He was furious, practically foaming at the mouth, and yelling at the Dalek to fight back. It didn't.

"I must protest!" Professor Bankwell cried out, but the Doctor paid him no heed.

"You hate me!" he screamed at the Dalek.

CLANG

"Fight back! You want to kill me!"

CLANG

"_Kill_ _me_!" he yelled, his eyes mad with hatred.

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

Rose jumped in, catching him by the arm, "Doctor, be careful!" But he shoved her aside, roughly.

CLANG

"I AM YOUR SOLD –"

"You are my _enemy_! And I am yours!" he stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, just staring down the Dalek's eyestalk. "You are everything I despise in the world," he said, his voice calm but only more terrifying, if anything. "I've defeated you. Time and time again, I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I saved the whole of reality from you. I am the Doctor, and you are the _Daleks_," he proclaimed, practically spitting the last word at the creature. His foot came up and he kicked the Dalek as hard as he could, sending it rolling to the back of the room without protest or comment. It crashed into another Dalek, both of them spinning for a moment before they stopped.

A younger Rose might've felt sorry for the creature. Might've tried to save it, like back in Van Statten's museum. But that seemed a lifetime ago, and Rose was no longer than naïve. Some things could never be saved. Some things didn't _deserve_ to be saved.

Painfully slowly, the Dalek's eyestalk turned around to face them, and Rose saw that the ever-so-familiar blue glow had returned, making her blood run cold. "COR-RECT." It rolled out of the corner, into the light, and if it had had facial expressions, Rose swore that it would've been smirking. "REV-IEW TEST-I-MONY," it commanded and a recording of the Doctor's voice began to play from who knows where_: I am the Doctor, and you are the Daleks. _

The Doctor's eyes were wide. "Testimony? What are you talking about, testimony?"

"TRANS-MITT-ING TEST-I-MONY."

"Transmitting what? Where? What are you doing?" he demanded, but received no answer.

Lights were bleeping on the hard metal shells of the Daleks and their little metal arms were bobbing up and down rapidly. "TEST-I-MONY ACC-EP-TED," the Dalek exclaimed and the Doctor's eyes widened.

He flung out an arm over Amy and Professor Bankwell, yelling out to Rose and Donna, "Get back! All of you, get away from them!" Donna backed up until her spine hit the wall behind her, and Rose went to follow, but her shoelace had caught under something. She looked down at her foot and swore out loud; she was stuck underneath one of the heavy metal Daleks. She crouched down and tugged on the lace, trying in vain to pull it free. When that failed, she tried to just take off the shoe, to hell with it, but the laces were knotted too tightly for her foot to slip out. She heard a laser gun go off just above her head and looked up, terrified, at the Dalek towering above her. It had just killed two soldiers – two young men with lives and families – who had rushed to their rescue. The Dalek felt no remorse.

"Stop! Stop!" The professor cried out, running up to them and waving his arms around over his head, "What are you doing? I _created_ you!"

Rose's eyes widened when she noted how close he was to the killing machines. "Professor Bankwell, stay ba-"

"NO. WE CRE-A-TED YOU," the Dalek announced, shooting the professor in the hand. He shrieked and staggered back, clutching at the stump on the end of his arm. But it was odd, there was no blood, no bones, it almost looked like…_wires_ coming out from the wound. Their, err, heads spun around to face each other and Rose could bet that they were smiling and laughing inside. "VIC-TORY. VIC-TORY!"

And then, with a flash, the first Dalek was gone. Rose shrieked and yanked at her shoe, but it just wouldn't come free. "Doctor!" she cried, looking up at him for help. And that was the last thing she saw, his mouth open yelling her name and his arm outstretched, dashing towards her. And then everything went white.

DOCTOR WHO

There was a jerking pain on her right foot, and then it felt as though a weight had been lifted from her leg. She blinked madly, trying to clear the black spots from her vision. The bright light of the teleport nearly blinded her. When she could finally see well enough, she looked around. No doors or windows anywhere in sight. Metal ceiling, walls, floor. She was on a Dalek spaceship. Again. Rose peered around the short wall the teleport had landed her behind, but immediately jerked her head back to the safety of behind the wall. The Daleks were out there, but they didn't seem to have noticed her. Or her blue sneaker lying in plain sight a few feet away. Her hand shot out and snatched the shoe, sighing at its condition. It'd been flattened, probably trampled on by one of the Daleks. And there was a brown goo all along one side…oil? Had a Dalek _pissed_ on her favorite sneakers? She wasn't sure whether to be terrified, disgusted, or angry. Or all three.

"COM-MEN-CING PHASE TWO," one of the Daleks announced. Rose got to her knees, leaving the filthy shoe behind, and slowly crawled around the short wall, darting behind a really big metal….umm…_thingy_ by the wall. "THE PRO-GENA-TOR IS ACTI-VA-TED. IT BE-GINS!" She couldn't hold back a gasp as the machine she was leaning against roared to life, rumbling and bleeping. The Daleks fell silent and her breath caught. She squeezed farther back into the corner between the machine and the wall, her eyes wide, and prayed. She'd never been much of a church-goer, but right now, she was willing to pray to anyone and anything that could get her out of here alive. Her heart was racing, and it only picked up speed when she saw the rounded metal front of a Dalek come around the corner, it's eyestalk following quickly behind. It saw her and she could feel her limbs begin to tremble, but tried to fight it down, standing up straight and defiant. "WHAT IS THIS?" the Dalek asked, and the other one rounded the corner as well, its eyestalk boring into her.

"THE HU-MAN FE-MALE WILL COME FOR-WARD," it commanded and Rose did, stepping out of her corner and into the light directly in front of the Daleks, her head held up defiantly. "SEAR-CHING KNOWN ALL-IES OF THE DOC-TOR," is said in that irritatingly robotic voice. Then the eyestalk flashed red and the Dalek's arms began to flail about as much as they could with their limited range of motion. "IT IS THE ABOM-INA-TION! EXTER-MIN-ATE! EXTER-MIN-ATE!"

Rose panicked. "No!" she yelled, her hands out in front of her, "No, you really don't want to kill me," she told them with as much confidence as she could.

The Daleks looked unconvinced – as much as they could with no facial expressions – but didn't shoot her, so she must've done something right. "THE ABOM-INA-TION WILL EXPLAIN," the right one commanded, the left one still keeping its gun-arm pointed at her chest.

She faltered. "Umm, because of the umm Shadow Proclamation article….5, section c and the authority of the… the Klingon Academy," she made up, pulling words from who knows where and hoping that the Daleks didn't watch Star Trek.

It didn't seem to work.

"THIS IS TRICK-ERY! EXTER-MIN-ATE!"

"Hold on! Hold on! Do you actually think that's a good idea?" asked a familiar voice and Rose almost laughed, giddy with the knowledge that the Doctor had come just in time, as always. "You're already on my bad side; wouldn't want to make the situation any worse," he chastised as if he were talking to a young child.

"IT IS THE DOC-TOR. EXTER-MIN-ATE!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" he cried, pulling something out of his pocket. "I wouldn't if I were you. TARDIS self-destruct button, alright, and you know what that means: if my ship goes, you'll go with it." Rose's eyes widened, but then she got a good look at what he was holding and her brows raised questioningly. The Doctor snuck a glance at her and winked, making a kissy face in her direction. She covered her mouth to stifle the laugh bubbling up inside.

"YOU WOULD NOT USE SUCH A DE-VICE," the Dalek insisted, ignorant of what had just passed between the two.

"Try me," the Doctor said challengingly and Rose nodded emphatically, backing him up.

"He'll do it," she told them, "He's crazy this time 'round."

One of the Daleks rolled forward as if to scan the Doctor, but he held out the Jammy Dodger again, saying, "Ah ah ah. No scans. No nothing. One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that?" he nodded toward Rose, who was still blocked from him by the row of Daleks. "Let her come over to me," he ordered, still holding out the biscuit.

"THE ABOM-INA-TION MUST BE KEPT CON-"

"No! One little button, that's all it takes. TARDIS bang bang, Daleks _boom_."

The Dalek slid aside, allowing Rose just enough space to slip through and run over to the Doctor, who grabbed her hand in his, squeezing tightly. He leant over and kissed the top of her head, letting his lips linger there for a moment, as if to reassure himself she was safe, before he continued. "Good boys," he told the Daleks, "Now. This ship's a bit beaten up. Running on empty, I'd say. Like you." He moved to walk around the ship, examining its state of disrepair that Rose had failed to notice before. "When we last met, you were at the end of your rope. Finished. I'd even venture to say _gone_, but that seems a bit hopeful."

"OUR SHIP SUR-VI-VED."

"So how'd _you_ survive?" Rose asked, her lip curled in disgust.

The Dalek dismissed her question. "WE HAVE LOC-A-TED A PRO-GEN-ATOR DE-VICE."

"So what's that then?" Rose mumbled to the Doctor, who shrugged, looking at the Daleks. "I could venture a guess, but I don't think I like the answer I've come up with," he told her quietly, tightening his grip on her hand.

"IT IS OUR PAST AND OUR FU-TURE," the Dalek said, as if that explained.

"Well. That's deep. That is deep for a Dalek," the Doctor said, smiling slightly. "What does it mean though?"

"IT CON-TAINS AND COP-IES DA-LEK D-N-A. ALL WERE LOST, SAVE ONE."

"Alright," the Doctor said, pulling away from Rose's hand and smacking his together. "That's all well and good – not really," he added quietly to Rose, who managed a weak grin. "But there's still one thing I don't understand. If you've got this progenitor, why build Bankwell?"

"What?" Rose wondered aloud, thinking back to when the man's hand had been shot off. Wires…

"IT WAS NEC-ESS-ARY."

"Why?" the Daleks didn't answer and the Doctor grinned. "I get it. Oh, I get it! This is rich! The progenitor wouldn't recognize you, would it? It saw you as _impure_! Your DNA's unrecognizable as Dalek," he said mockingly and the creatures fidgeted as if uncomfortable.

"A SO-LUT-ION WAS –"

"Yes, yes, I know, I know. You set a trap. You knew that the progenitor would recognize me, your greatest enemy, and take my word that you were actually Daleks," the Doctor said, turning around to wander around as usual. As soon as his back was turned, one of the Daleks rolled over to a panel on the wall of the progenitor and started doing something Rose couldn't see behind its body.

The Doctor had started to say something, but she cut him off. "What's that you're doing?" she demanded, and the Doctor whirled around, looking at the Dalek she was staring daggers at.

The Dalek made a sound only describable and cackling. "WATCH AS THE HU-MANS DE-STROY THEM-SELVES," it said with a sort of sick robotic glee, and the Doctor's face went as pale as a sheet.

"What is it? What've they done?"

"They've lit up London like a Christmas tree," he hissed, "An easy target for the Nazis. Turn those lights off," he said quietly, "Turn London off, _now_! Or I swear, I will _use_ this TARDIS self-destruct button!" he threatened, but the Dalek didn't seem fazed.

"STALEMATE. LEAVE US AND RE-TURN TO EARTH."

"You're gonna run away?" Rose asked, scowling, "How cowardly is that?"

"EX-TINC-TION IS NOT AN OPT-ION," the Dalek insisted, "WE SHALL RE-TURN TO OUR OWN TIME AND BE-GIN AGAIN!"

"No! No, I won't let you get away this time! I won't!"

There was a faint beeping noise and the Daleks swiveled around to face the progenitor, exclaiming, "THE PRO-GEN-ITOR HAS SUC-CEE-DED. D-N-A REPLI-CA-TION IS COM-PLETE!" The front of the machine split open, like doors, and a white smoky vapor leaked out into the room, blocking view of whatever was inside the machine. Rose hoped to God that it wasn't what she thought, that it wasn't –

"LOOK, DOC-TOR. Look, ABOM-INA-TION. SEE WHAT WE HAVE CRE-A-TED!"

It was. It was _exactly_ what Rose had thought.

Another Dalek rolled out of the machine, this one white a gleaming. The most disgusting, evil, horrifying creatures in the universe had just multiplied. And not just one more, there were _five_, all colored and shiny as you like. Rose's eyes bugged out of her head when they rolled out, and she could feel her hands start shaking, from fear or anger she didn't know.

"BE-HOLD, THE RES-TOR-ATION OF THE DA-LEKS. THE RES-TOR-ATION OF THE MAS-TER RACE!"

The white Dalek rolled forward and swiveled its head around, as if appraising the ship and its occupants. Rose had to bite back an urge to hide behind the Doctor. "YOU ARE INFE-RI-OR," it told the original Daleks, who were chanting 'all hail the Supreme Dalek' over and over.

"AFF-IRM-ATIVE," they replied and the white Dalek – the Supreme – raised up its blaster arm.

"THEN PRE-PARE TO DIE."

"WE ARE READY." And then it shot them, all four of the original Daleks. The creation had killed the creator.

Rose squawked, her hands flying up to her mouth. The Doctor just looked around, eyes wide, and said, "Blimey. What do you do to the ones who mess up?" Rose didn't even want to think about it.

"IT IS THE DOC-TOR AND HIS ABOM-INA-TION. YOU MUST BE EXT-ERM-INA-TED," Dalek Supreme declared and the Doctor held up his jammy dodger again, sweeping Rose behind him with one arm in a protective stance. She tried her best to stand up straight and unafraid. She didn't think it worked.

"Oh, don't mess with us, sweetheart," the Doctor spat at it and Rose found herself glad that he hadn't even given her a pet name like that one. Especially when he said it like that.

The blue Dalek made an alert noise and spun around in a circle, waving his plunger in the air. "TIME LORD TRICK-ERY DE-TEC-TED. TAR-DIS SELF-DEST-RUCT DE-VICE NON-EXIST-ANT."

The Doctor sighed and stuffed the biscuit into his mouth. "Alrigh', you caught me. It's a jammy dodger," he admitted, "but I was promised tea!"

The yellow Dalek – they really did come in every color now, didn't they? – beeped and spun around to the battered panel on the side of the wall. "ALERT. UN-IDEN-TIF-IED PRO-JEC-TILES COM-ING THIS WAY."

"WHAT HAVE THE HU-MANS DONE?" The green one asked, "EX-PLAIN. EX-PLAIN!"

The Doctor shoved the rest of the cookie into his mouth, wiped his hands off on his trousers, and walked over to the panel, standing a bit too near to the Dalek for Rose's comfort. "I don't know," he said, sounding honestly surprised. "You lot are absolutely _brilliant_, you know that?" he called to Rose over his shoulder and she offered him a tense smile, clasping her hands together tightly. These new Daleks were taller, she noted. She had to look up to see them. "Are you alright?" he asked her, looking truly concerned, "You look a bit-"

But a voice broke into his concerned question; it was coming from some speaker in the ceiling. "Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor. Are you receiving me? Over."

The Doctor jumped to his feet again hopped in a circle, whooping. "Yes, yes! Loud and clear, Danny Boy! Big dish, side a' the ship," he said loudly, walking backwards and lacing his fingers with Rose's and pulling her back as well. "Blow it up!" he yelled at last, turning and running as the Daleks fired shots all around them, thoroughly terrifying Rose. The Doctor just laughed as he slammed the TARDIS door behind them, keeping her pressed against the door, caged in between his hands.

"Hello," she said with a breathless little smile. "Good to see you."

"You," he replied in a low voice, "are entirely too jeopardy-friendly." And he kissed her. Hard.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor," a voice broke in, and the Doctor pulled back a bit, keeping his face just a hair's breadth away from hers. "Just me left, sir. Anything you could do? Over."

The Doctor sighed and pulled away from Rose completely, taking his hands away from her and letting her stand up straight and follow him over to the console. "The Doctor to Danny Boy," he said into the small radio he'd picked up, "I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

Rose could almost hear the smile in the man's voice as he replied, "That's alright, sir. It's a chance. Get to it! Over."

The Doctor set the radio down and in a second, he was back to doing what he did best: hopping around the console, tweaking knobs, pulling levers, dinging bells. "Rose, could you get-"

"This one?"

"Yes, exactly! And then that thing right – yeah, you've got it," he said with a smile. He grabbed the radio and brought it to his mouth, saying, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over."

"What about you, Doctor?"

He smiled and leaned on the console, looking at Rose. "Oh, Rose and I? We'll be okay."

"Always are," she agreed fondly.

"DOC-TOR, CALL OFF YOUR ATT-ACK," boomed a robotic voice from a huge screen behind the console that Rose somehow hadn't noticed before.

"What?" Rose asked, laughing, "Or what?" she added with a scoff, knowing that they'd used up their final plan of attack.

"WE WILL DES-TROY THE EARTH."

"Oh, come off it, mate. Does she look stupid to you?" the Doctor asked, coming over to Rose and flinging an arm over her shoulders and planting a kiss to the side of her head. "Cause she doesn't to me."

"BANKWELL IS A BOMB," The Supreme Dalek said, and Rose felt the Doctor's arm tighten around her shoulders and his body freeze.

"What?"

"Nah, you're fakin' it," Rose said casually, though the Doctor could tell she was trying to convince herself.

"THE ABOM-INA-TION WILL NOT SPEAK."

"Will you _stop_ calling me that?"

The Supreme Dalek ignored her. "HIS PO-WER IS DRAWN FROM A OBLI-VION CON-TIN-UEM. CALL AOFF YOUR ATT-ACK OR WE WILL DET-O-NATE THE AND-ROID." And then it was gone, the screen blank.

The Doctor's arm slid off of Rose's shoulders and he walked over to the console, his knuckles white on the metal rim. "No, no, no! My perfect chance to finally rid the universe of everything Dalek, once and for all, and I..."

"Do it," Rose hissed, though she was sure that it was not the best option and that she was being an awful friend for encouraging him to do it. "Everything Dalek gone forever? _Do it_!"

"I can't," he growled, though she knew he was angry at the Daleks, not at her. "I have to save all you _stupid_ bloody apes again. This could be my last chance. My only chance, ever, to get rid of them all, and I…Bankwell's a bomb. Who makes a person into a bomb? Bloody Daleks, that's who," he spat, sounding more and more like a man with short hair and big ears. Right now, he reminded Rose of the leather jacket that was tucked away somewhere in the ship. Angry, and confused, and sad. And she didn't know what to do.

"Do it. Get rid of 'em. They deserve it," she said desperately, knowing that this wasn't at all what she should be saying, that this was wrong and there were more important things in life than revenge. But she couldn't help but think of her family, stuck in another universe. Because of the Daleks. And of the Doctor, who'd been through so much pain. And of Jack, who'd died…who knows how many times because of them. And she couldn't help but think that maybe the nightmares might go away if the Daleks did. So she became the poisoned Serpent, trying to lead the Doctor astray.

But he was just too good.

"No. No, Rose, we have to stop that bomb," he said bitterly.

She snorted. "D'you really think that they'll stop the bomb, just 'cause you call off the attack? They'll blow up the earth either way, and you know it."

He looked at her, and hoped to God that he was making the right decision. He dropped the radio and set the coordinates to the cabinet war rooms, London underground. With a grim smile, he pulled the final lever. "Well then, Geronimo!"

DOCTOR WHO

Rose thought back on the day's events. Winston Churchill. Daleks. Dalek robot-man. Dorabella and forbidden human love saved the world. Churchill tried to steal the TARDIS key. Amy, sharp as a pin Amy, caught him at it and confiscated the key. They went back later to send Professor Bankwell off to find his Dorabella. Amy and Donna and Rose and the Doctor all piled back onto the TARDIS. Amy learned that travelling with the Doctor wasn't all fun and games. And the Daleks….Rose had killed them. Or just about. She'd convinced the Doctor to. She's just as good as committed genocide. And why? Revenge. Petty, human revenge. But they were gone and that was that. Time to move on. The Doctor didn't seem too upset – quite the opposite, in fact. When they'd gotten back to the TARDIS and he'd sent them into the Vortex, Donna asked what had happened. The Doctor had told her, and as he recounted the tale, his smile actually grew when he'd fully realized what happened to the Doctor. Donna and Amy had made up some excuse about looking for the mysterious swimming pool and left the Doctor and Rose alone in the console room. After all, one could get an awful lot done in twenty minutes.

After a while, Donna and Amy came back, assured the pair that the swimming pool was indeed in the library once more, and they'd been about to set off again when Amy broke in. "Actually, Doctor…you know how I was trying ta' say, before, that I've got stuff to do tomorrow morning? And that I might've been running away from it a teeny bit? Well, I think I need to get back to it now. It's...umm, it's actually pretty important to me. Think that you'd better…I mean, if it's alright that you could maybe…"

"You want to go home," he stated simply and she nodded. "Now?" she nodded again, slowly and a bit reluctantly.

"You know," Rose said, "You can always call. If you want to see us again. And umm, good luck. Tomorrow morning."

Amy smiled and nervously pushed the hair behind her ear. "Yeah. So…home?"

"Leadworth," the Doctor confirmed, plugging in the coordinates. "Right after we left. Five minutes after, actually. Well, I say five minutes; it's more like four minutes, twenty seven seconds and-" he stopped abruptly as Donna groaned.

"Oh, shut it already. Just say five minutes, will you?"

He nodded sheepishly. "Right. So. Amelia Pond. This is your stop. Did you ever want to tell me what stuff is or…" he trailed off when she didn't even try to answer.

Rose pressed a piece of paper into her hand. "Call us. Please." And gave her a hug. Donna did as well, muttering a 'good luck' into her ear. And then Amelia Pond was gone, quickly and quietly and easily, not at all like the way she'd entered into the TARDIS crew. But Rose had a feeling, deep down in her gut, that they'd never really shake Amy. She'd be back alright, the question was just _when_.

**A/N Oops, sorry don't kill me. She'll be back. Maybe. Probably. Possibly. Most likely. (She'll be back). So please tell me what you thought? I changed the ending (nothing too drastic), but is that alright? Can I have permission to twist and turn the episodes any way I'd like to? Anyway, please review, because number of reviews per chapter has been going down, and it kinda worries me. Everyone still liking this okay? Anything I need to change or add in? **


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